Children promote new food ingredients

TUMKUR: Children here have urged their elders to develop a natural taste which they may have never tried out at all.This mela with a difference at Bettada Rameshwara hillock at Kallalli village, about 25 km from Tiptur, was also a lesson for all to identify naturally accessible leafy vegetables — shrubs and herbs — and utilise them for healthy living.Children of about 10 surrounding high schools identified about 50 natural shrubs and herbs and cooked them to different dishes.The dosa of turike soppu (a thorny shrub), was a big hit as Tiptur MLA B C Nagesh, Save Western Ghats movement leader G L Janardhan, BEO Manmohan, Assistant Commissioner Patil, DySP Dr Boralinge Gowda and Child Development Programme Officer Nataraj and others were left wanting more.Interestingly, no one knew that the shrub which can cause skin irritation would have such a wonderful taste.However, Lakshmipathi, a student, who prepared the dosa elucidated that the shrub, when soaked in water loses does not cause irritation and can be mixed with rice for dosa batter.Likewise, students Shilpa, Sachin, Yashwanth, Lavanya, Supriya, Kiran, Chaitra and others too surprised the guests with dishes made from unfamiliar edible leaves such as kada sapsige, tagadisoppu, naraballi soppu and mangaravalli.Ayurvedic medical practitioner Dr Mythili from Shimoga assisted in certifying the edible leaves.A farmer and author G L Muralidhara taught the students to identify the plants.