Common name: Himalaya Onion, Jimbur
Botanical name: Allium wallichii Family: Alliaceae (onion family)
Himalaya Onion is a deciduous bulb that grows to 1.0 meters high by 0.5 meters
wide. It grows in Himalyan foothills between 2300-6600 m. It sports
hemispheric umbels of purple flowers.
In Nepal, Himalaya onion
is often used for cooking, especially for flavouring dal
(दाल) boiled legumes. Rather uniquely, jimbu leaves are usually employed in
the dried state and fried in butter fat to develop their flavour.
Medicinal uses:
The bulbs, boiled then fried in ghee, are eaten in the treatment of cholera
and dysentery. The raw bulb is chewed to treat coughs and colds. It
is said that eating the bulbs can ease the symptoms of altitude sickness.
Members of this genus are in general very healthy additions to the diet. They
contain sulphur compounds (which give them their onion flavour) and when added
to the diet on a regular basis they help reduce blood cholesterol levels, act
as a tonic to the digestive system and also tonify the circulatory system.
| Photographed in Valley of
Flowers, Uttarakhand. |
|
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