Jashpur’s Putu & Boda of Bastar

Putu or Boda it is a small round truffle fungus found & grows underground near sarae (sal) tree in the forest, which is edible.

It was used to be indigenous round truffle fruit cum veggie but with time & also because of its proved nutritional values it is now consumed by everybody; whenever it is available during monsoon, it is consumed in mass quantity by the people.

In Jashpur district & northern Chhattisgarh it is called as Putu & in Bastar district, in southern part of Chhattisgarh it is renamed as Boda.

Where & when you get it :

It is found in forest near sarae (sal) tree during the beginning of monsoon season.

It is said not everybody could find it; as it is buried & form inside the ground. It is also an art to identify it & poke it out from the ground.

Benefits:

As per the research conducted by Balwant Acharya, Dhananjay Pandey and Sharad Nema School of Studies in Biotechnology, Bastar Vishwavidyalaya, Dharampura, Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, India.

Putu or Boda is a small round fruiting body of a fungus that grows underground. It is an edible truffle with high protein, vitamin and fiber with low calorific value, easy to digest.

It is an excellent source of protein and contains all the essential amino acids.

It is said & proved in their research, that the mineral salt it contains is superior to that of meat, fish and nearly twice that of the most common vegetables.

Price Hike:

Because of so much nutritive values & taste, it is highly consumed & demanded during monsoon season.

As it rises once a year during monsoon its price shoots up in the market.

On initial fews days this year it was sold at 1600/- rupees kg in the Ambikapur market later, at the end of its season it was sold at 600/- rupees kg. which was costlier than a kg meat.

Consumed since:

I asked my mom for how long we have been knowing & consuming putu & she replied: her grandmother used to tell how her mother used to cook putu.

From this only we can imagine even before many researches & research happened on it; it was there with the human colonization & being consumed by us since a very long time.

Recipe:

While writing it down I asked aayo(mumma) about her recipe & story of it. She told how her mom and she used to cook putu.

In our community it is kind of tradition to cook first monsoon putu with chicken.

And here I would love to share her words through this recipe:

• First clean the putu(1/2kg)with cold water 2 times( it’s basic most people don’t know it) as it found in soil & it is tough to remove the sand in it. Then soak it in luke warm water then clean again. Cut down the putu in half.
• Second clean the chicken(1kg).
• put the oil on a pan heat it, pour khada masala, chopped onion (4-5 medium size) and green chilli (3-4) and cook it well till it gets brown.
• Add garlic ginger paste (2tsp) & Haldi(1/2tsp), coriander powder(2tsp), black pepper(1/2tsp), garam masala (hot spices) (1/2tsp) heat it up at medium flame for few minutes.
• Then add putu toss it well, then add salt ( as per taste ) & cook it for 5 mins in medium heat then add chicken, heat it till the chicken gets cooked, add chicken masala or home made chicken masala(1/2tsp).
• It is a dry dish you could also make it in gravy by adding tomato pulp & water then boil it for few minutes till it reaches to the desired curry you want.

And the dish is ready to serve & you can have it either with chapati or Rice.

This is the traditional story of our putu. Have it & experience another level of Savour.