KASHMIRIS AND BROAD BEANS OR BOGLA DAAL

                                                                           

         

BOGLA DAAL OR BROAD BEANS OR FAVA BEANS OR WINDSOR BEANS AND KASHMIRIS.

"Ha'ta bi ! amiss di chanaa bogla russ , amiss pheri heiss "

" O, lad, give him a soup of dry broad beans mixed with gram. He will have some energy. "

This is what was recommended to my mother by Prem Nath Koul" Wafa" a well known allopathic medicine practitioner in Rainawari. Along with Shamboo Nath Sathu, he did a roaring practice from his medical shop near Jogilanker bridge. No gossipmonger was allowed to sit in the shop. Pandits and Muslims of Rainawari would visit this shop. I would always see sick persons being brought from interior localities of Dal lake in roofless boats ( Demb-naav) to this shop. The doctors in this shop were assisted by a trusted compounder cum helper known as Mohi ud Din. My mother had taken me to Prem Nath Ji's shop after I had recovered from an attack of typhoid and was feeling extremely weak and emaciated. Those days only tea or some liquids were allowed to typhoid patients. I loved the Daal made from Chana and Bogla (broad beans). It used to have a different taste. Something like mutton soup. Mother would add a spoon of Jammu Khaalis Ghee that was the preferred and branded /Agmark Desi Ghee sold in the market those days.

Bogla Dal was sold in plenty by Galdhaars (traders in pulses and grains) in Kashmir. Doctors recommended it's soup during sickness. It was the first choice of doctors and Hakeems to the patients who had a fever, typhoid, jaundice and other ailments.

It was a cheap source of protein for the poor. It was grown in many areas of Kashmir especially on Karewas(plateaus). A recent study on broad beans published in ' European Journal of Clinical Nutrition' informs:

" Broad beans are an excellent vegetable source of protein and fibre. This may be a winning combination for weight loss. Broad beans are also rich in both folate and B vitamins, which we need for nerve and blood cell development, cognitive function and energy."

As I grew, I found people developing a distaste for Bogla Daal and strangely linking it with poverty and backwardness.

And I have found that after their displacement from Kashmir, Kashmiri Pandits have started consuming it once more. Plenty of Bogla Daal is sold in Jammu now. One can buy it from 'Prasad Koul And Sons ', Gole Pulli, TalabTillo, 'Kangan Spices', Udhaywala, 'Ram Sham Provision Store' Rehari, 'Jain Masala Store ' located at Pacci Dacci and Pucca Great, Talab Tillo in Jammu city.

( Avtar Mota )

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