Thoughts unlimited

Kareel (Bamboo shoot vegetable) in market
Photo: Ravi Kumar

Bamboo is a very useful tree. Scientifically it is not a tree but a herb though it looks like a shrub. Mature bamboos are used for making huts, furniture, and art objects. Some of the things made from bamboo are Verandah curtains, mattresses, and sticks. Sticks are made from smaller varieties of bamboo and are very useful for old persons, shepherds, and farmers (for separating grains from paddy). The most common uses of the bamboo-made objects are different sizes of baskets. These baskets are known in Hindi as Tokari or Dala. And there is bamboo Soop. Soop is a shallow basket with high rims on three sides and flat at one side. Dalas and Soops are widely used in rural India for storing grains and vegetables. Both are used as a strainer during parboiling rice. Due to its strength, bamboos are used in fencing the fields, in centering & scaffolding (while making a pucca building), in roofs & columns of huts, in temporary small bridges of Nallah (streams), and as pipes also. In some places, bamboo has also been tried as a replacement for steel in RCC for minor works.

Different stages of cutting of Kareel for Bhaja

For Hindus, bamboo is an auspicious tree. It is used in making a Mandap in Hindu marriages, in Palki (palanquin), and in religious flags as a post eg. Ramnavmi flags, Dala (baskets) and Soop in the famous festival of Chhath. Even the last journey of a Hindu from house to burning ghat is essentially on a bamboo made bed.

Such a useful tree is also used in the kitchen as a recipe in India and East Asian countries and it is a delicacy here. But the bamboos used as vegetables are the soft shoots of a new bamboo tree which is known as Kareel in Bihar-Bengal areas. In the rainy season during monsoons, new bamboo grows adjacent to the existing old bamboo trees. New bamboo growth is in the shape of a soft conical shoot which grows rapidly. Shoots up to ten inches long are cut and dressed for vegetables.

Fermented bamboo shoot slices (Karil)
on sale at a vegetable market in Ranchi.

The Kareel (or Karil) is known by different names in different regions. In Assam, it is called Khorisa, Karadi in Odissa while in South India it is known as Kanile. The radish shaped Karil has a very intense smell. Some people find the smell of raw Karil very repulsive. Like Cassava, Karil also contains natural toxins (cyanogenic glycosides). That is why it can not be consumed fresh. Before cooking Kareel vegetables, these natural toxins must be destroyed. It is done by leaving sliced/cut Kareel in water for at least 15 hours and then boiling. Fermented Karil is also used to keep away its acrid taste. Fermented Kareel is called Tama in Nepal where it has been used for centuries. They cook Tama with potatoes and beans.

Kareel & Arabi mix vegetable
Photo: Ravi Kumar

In Jharkhand, it is cooked by frying (Bhaja, Bhujiya) or as a mixed vegetable with Arabi (Taro roots). Since it is available in the rainy season during monsoon, people enjoy it like other seasonal vegetables like mushrooms, Kantola, and Rugda. In Orisa its curry is made which is called Ambila. In Nagaland, fermented Kareel known as Bas Tenga is cooked with pork and it is very popular here. It is cooked with fish also in Meghalaya and Chittagong area.

Kareel-fry, Photo: Ravi Kumar

Not only in Indian Subcontinent, but it is also a sought after vegetable in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar. They cook the fermented bamboo shoots with locally available items like coconut milk or rice powder. Bamboo shoots are also preserved as Murabba (like Petha).

Kareel Achaar (Bamboo shoot pickles), Photo: Ravi Kumar

Apart from Bhaja, mixed vegetables and curries, Kareel is also used in making pickles. Pickled Kareel is preserved for a long time. Mostly salted pickles are made but in the Philippines sweet pickles are also made. For salted pickles, the fermented thinly sliced bamboo shoots are sun-dried for a few hours so that residual water is evaporated. It is then mixed with mustard oil (heated then cooled), red chilly powder, and spices. It is kept in direct sun for a few days. Salted bamboo shoot pickles are known as "Kareel Achaar". This Kareel Achaar is recommended in Ayurveda as anti-acidic, anti-cough, and blood purifying. They also say that it heals the body wounds, removes swellings, and cures leucoderma (Safed-Daag).

Though it is a popular vegetable during monsoon in the areas where bamboos are grown, people trying to taste it for the first time may be disappointed due to residual acrid taste and smell but after a few trials, taste-buds develop a taste for this vegetable.

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Bamboo-shoot products are also available online at Flipkart and Amazon. Here are some links.

Murabba

Pickles

Bamboo-shoot plants, Lucky Bamboo

Bamboo-seeds, Bamboo-rice

Books related to Bamboo

Bamboo chairs

Bamboo Curtains

Canned raw Bamboo-shoots, Pickles, Murabbas

Bamboo-shoot plants, Lucky Bamboo

Bamboo-sticks &Lathi