Local food #9 - Ambadi and its benefits

Local food #9 – Ambadi - The stomach soother

The picture is collected from - Shutterstock website

When I first read this word “Ambadi”, It is a new word to me. It is a Marathi word, in English, it is known as roselle. It is more familiar to me when I found the Odia version. In Odia language, it is known as khata Palanga (google search). Still, I am not convinced of the Odia word. Comment whether you find it correct or incorrect! This is the food for our sustainable life and ecosystem.

In other languages – Gongura in Telugu, Pulichakeerai in Tamil, Pitwaa in Hindi, Tenga mora in Assamese.  

Locality – It is grown everywhere in India. The names are different but properties are the same.

This green leafy vegetable is rich in folic acid. This is a great source of iron for anaemia patients. It has microorganism resistant properties. So, those tiny monsoon monsters (insects and microorganisms) cannot able to destroy this plant. It is very helpful to keep our gut microbes healthy.

Parts of Ambadi and uses -

The flower of khata palanga is red in colour and very beautiful. Those flowers can be boil and used for stomach diseases. Some people use roselle tea for detox purpose.

The leaves and stems of palanga can be cooked with other veggies and it is a very healthy side dish.

The seeds of ambadi are turned to oil and commonly used for lighting lamps. This oil can be used for cooking purposes.

Attention –

The consumption of green leaves is decreasing day by day. It is very important to gain iron from vegetables in a continuation than from tablets.

P.S. – Here I have put the title “Ambadi” instead of “Palanga” because I have collected all the information after reading this word.

All the information is collected from Google and from the book “Indian superfoods” by Rujuta Diwekar.

Keep eating local and stay healthy.