Doron bon Khar recipes

Doron bon(দোৰোণ বন) is a medicinal plant with tiny white flowers that blooms in the winter.  Scientific name is Leucas aspera and  found in many parts of India and are generally  grows in open fields and waste lands. In Assam this medicinal plant is used as a vegetable and is for herbal remedies. In curing sinusitis and headaches, doron bon is used as nasal drops. It is also good for appetite and digestion.

Today I am going to share two recipes of doron bon.  Doron bon has a strong taste and smell. So everyone may not like it.  But I like the taste and like to consume it for its medicinal value.

Khar is an alkali prepared from sun dried skin of some varieties of banana. It is prepared by filtering the water from the burn ashes of the skin of the banana Therefore it is also called kolkhar (kol means banana). It is preserved in bottles and can be used for months. It sounds bizarre but Assamese people are using khar as a cooking ingredient since time immemorial when salt was not discovered. It is believed that khar cleanses the stomach.

 A traditional Assamese meal begin with khar recipe.  A khar recipe can be prepared with raw papaya, bottle gourd, dry Jasmin flower,  doron bon xaak, fish head etc. In a khar recipe khar is the key ingredient.  One or two tablespoons is enough to prepare khar recipe.  Khar can also be consumed as raw by just adding chopped garlic,  few drops of mustard oil and salt.

* To know more about Khar Click here

Here are the two simple Khar  recipe cooked with doron Bon.

1. My first recipe is a simple doron bon recipe cooked with wheat flour .

Ingredients :

• 1 bunch of doron bon leaves
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• 1 tbsp khar
• 1-2 tbsp wheat flour
• salt to taste

Method:

Wash doron bon leaves under running water and chopped it.

In a pan heat mustard oil.  Add garlic cloves and chopped doron bon leaves.

Add salt and khar . Add 1/2 cup of water.  Bring to boil.

Add wheat flour and mix well by stirring constantly.

Remove from heat.

Serve at the beginning (like starter) with rice.

2. My second recipe is doron bon cooked in banana leaf 

Ingredients :

• 1 bunch of doron bon leaves
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tbsp khar
• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• banana leaf
• salt to taste

Method :

Wash doron bon leaves under running water. In a bowl take the doron bon leaves,  garlic cloves and  green chillies .

Add salt,  mustard oil and khar.  Mix well.

Take a small piece of banana leaf. Tenderize the leaf by heating it on open fire. Take all the ingredients on that tenderized piece of banana leaf.

Now fold and wrap the banana leaf neatly.

Place the wrapped banana leaf packet on a preheated pan or tawa . On low heat cook for 15-20 minutes . Turn upside down from time to time.

Remove from the pan.

Serve with rice at the beginning of the meal.