Lafa mwigong

Another iconic herb/leafy vegetable consumed by the Bodos is the Lafa. According to Wikipedia, it belongs to the genus of Malva, known commonly as Mallow in English. I haven't been able to correctly identify the scientific name of Lafa, although plants resembling Lafa have been identified by names such as Chinese mallow and Cheeseweed.

Grown from seed in autumn (sometime in October in India), the plant starts to bear flowers and fruits pretty quickly after the appearance of a few sets of leaves (a process known as bolting). Knowledgeable people recommend nipping off the younger and upper set of leaves while harvesting to delay the process of bolting. Another method perhaps, could be planting the seeds in a staggered manner on multiple plots so that you can have them at different stages of growth.

As with Mwitha (Roselle), I have been eating this plant since I was a child. Although I have seen lafa being used in the cuisines of various communities from Nepal to Assam, I wonder if this plant is as ubiquitous in the cuisine of any other community as compared to that of the Bodos.

The Bodos use the leaves and tender stems in various dishes. It can be stir-fried and served as a side dish, or used in curries and stews with meat or fish. One unique Bodo dish is known as 'Wngkhri gwlao/Wngkhri gwbaab'. It is cooked along with 'Bathua' (known commonly in English as lamb's quarters or goosefoot), a wild weed that can be found in any backyard vegetable garden of the Bodos. The special ingredient that brings the dish together is 'Khardwi', an alkanine liquid, commonly used in various Bodo dishes. I will write about Khardwi in later posts. But, for now, Wngkhri gwlao is prepared by a mix of Lafa, bathua, Khardwi (dried fish is often added) that are slow-cooked together. The end product is a thick, viscous and bright green gravy that Bodos call Wngkhri gwlao.

 Lafa jwng Oma bedor (Lafa and pork)

Ingredients: 

1. Pork cubes(1 kg)
2. Lafa leaves and tender stems (a couple of bunches)
3. One onion (finely sliced)
4. Ground paste of garlic and ginger (one tablespoon)
5. Cumin powder (one teaspoon)
6. Chilli powder (one teaspoon)
7. Turmeric powder (one tablespoon- optional)
8. Chopped green chillies
9. Salt (one tablespoon or to taste)

Method: Put a cast-iron kadai on the stove on high heat. Chuck in two fatty cubes of pork into the kadai to render some fat in medium heat. Then, add the onion and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic-ginger paste, chilli powder, cumin powder and stir for a while till the ingredients slightly stick to the kadai. Now, add the pork cubes to the mix, salt and saute for a few more minutes till all the water from the pork evaporates.

Once the pork gets brownish in colour, it's time to add some water to soften the meat. Let the dish simmer in medium heat until the meat is soft and tender. Now add the lafa into the kadai. At this stage, you have two options. If you want to have some gravy with the dish, you can let the dish cook for a few minutes till the leaves are wilted and have released some of their water. Otherwise, you can just stir in the leaves and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Add the chopped chillies to finish the dish.

P.S.- While cooking pork, many people often wonder why their pork dish ends up with a lot of liquid fat. One obvious reason is because, the home-grown local pork available in Bodoland has a lot of fat, unlike the leaner pork of high-breed, farm-produced pigs.

So, if you don't want your dish to be drowned in pools of liquid pork fat, there are potential remedies that have worked for me. First of all, do not use any additional oil to cook pork. It is inevitable that some of the fat will melt into your dish anyway. Secondly, in order to tenderize the meat while cooking, use water in several batches instead of all at once. Finally, it helps if you can cook pork as fast as you can before all the fat is rendered. although for this method to work, you might need thinner slices or cubes of meat (preferably without bone) or meat that has been boiled and cooked through previously (as is done for dishes like pork chowmein).

A final note on Lafa: Try not to overcook lafa in a stir-fried dish. Otherwise you will get sticky, gooey and brownish cooked lafa on your dish. I personally don't like that. Once, the leaves begin to wilt, turn off the heat before the leaves turn mushy and browny.

Right. That's all for now. See you later on a different post. Enjoy cooking. If you're reading this, kindly share the post. Comment below. It would mean a lot to me.