Daily Times

Imagine calling grass “scrumptious”. Well, shamsh, halako, henderka, pozho, kahuk, gwatg, habetug and trupshuk are just some of the grasses that can be eaten and these are grown in Balochistan.

Shamsh and halako are luscious grasses which grow during winter. They usually grow alongside wheat and oats, but can be grown separately as well. We Baloch, eat these both tasty grasses with the aid of some salt to get a better taste.

Besides these, pozho is another kind of grass that tastes really good. Locals are huge fans of these. It’s also quite easy to cook these. They are boiled in water to soften them up a bit. Later the water of pozho is taken out by squeezing its leaves and is mixed with goat milk to be eaten with dates. It has really a scrumptious taste and eaten by old peoples of Balochistan mostly. Since this is a soften dish for old people who like it the most because of lacking teeth in their mouths when they get older.

‘Henderka’ and ‘kahuk’, on the other hand, are not less than other vegetables and grasess, which we Baloch cook during day meal, and they are dwarf grasses and cooked completely with leaves and their other parts. Henderka grow anywhere and any season while kahuk ussually grow after the rain.

Besides these, pozho is another kind of grass that tastes really good. Locals are huge fans of these. It’s also quite easy to cook these. They are boiled in water to soften them up a bit. Later the water of pozho is taken out by squeezing its leaves and is mixed with goat milk to be eaten with dates

However, the grasess which we Baloch cook as diets are numberless in Balochistan regions and mountains. And, every Baloch eat these diets with keen and joy.

The ready milk of goats as a shape of yougurt is not tasty that much, but we put a kind of grass namely ‘gwatug’ in local Balochi language to get a better delicious taste. And, which grows in mountains mostly after rain.

‘Habetug’ and ‘trupshuk’ have their own delectable flavour. Drupshuk grows in mountains at any places, but gwatug on the other hand, does not grow in a open ground but inside the other plants ussually in remuk, a plant inside which habetug grows. Habetug has a bitter taste and good at for killing the worms inside our belly, according to our old Baloch.

Additionally kaleir and jojoba are the fruits which are liked and eaten by the villagers of Balochistan. According to our ancestors dates and jojoba were the only diets and source for them to dwell their lives in past, since that time they lack the today’s diets which are present in a large number, but they spend their days and nights by these two fruits and sometimes in eating locusts, as well.

Tourists and visitors are encouraged to try these out and taste the wonderful flavour of these grass.

The writer is a student and can be reached at waheedwahid774@gmail.com