Makar Sankranti: Celebrate It wIth Ber Recipes as Forest Food

 

Indian wild fruit, Ber or Jujube, is a low-calorie fruit, full of dietary fibre that serves as a healthy snack for all fitness enthusiasts in the rural and tribal areas. The other forest berries such as blackberries and raspberries which are edible wild berries that can be eaten even raw, but are not popular among tribal community. 

During Makar Sankranti time, eating ber with jaggery or gur is considered highly auspicious. A mix of bers and sugarcane is considered nutritious marmalade by the indigenous tribes.

 

Makar Sankranti is celebrated by the indigenous tribes of Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Assam and Rajasthan with eating jaggery along with other forest food. The forest food is harvested on the onset of winter to subsist during cold waves.

 

It is said that the amino acids in ber fruit works as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substance. It is considered a good source of vitamin C with low carbohydrate value and is good on stomach due reasonable fibre content.

 

Ber is good medium for chutneys and pickles. Also, boiled berries with jaggery or sugar syrup work as good sweets. Further, bits of bers can be added in halawa as fruits. Be salad can be also good appetizer.