What is this vegetable called "FAPAR"
There's a certain kind of vegetable in India and Nepal that Nepalis call FAPAR. The standard-sized plants do not grow taller than about a foot average. The plant-stems/main plants are copper to reddish-brown in colour, with sparsely spaced branches and sub branches, with angular-shaped green leaves with copper coloured veins, and mostly with reddish brown peripheral border. The flowers are light purple, pink or even white, and the fruits are dark, almost triangular or like tetrahedrons, hard, sized approx. Mung-beans, can be likened to very very small Chanaas or miniature Chick peas.
The plants can be eaten as methi saag (Fenugreek greens)when still young and not yet flowering, but in excessive amounts, it can cause tingling of feet and loss of sensation in some parts of the soles of the feet that can radiate upwards to the hands, but usually goes away after a few hours. Harmless. But this plant is planted when the climate is not favourable for other rich crops like maize, millets etc. as this plant looks like weed, and can withstand very harsh weather conditions, especially the draught, and give the hard black seeds in time.
The seeds/fruits are dried and ground into powder and made into flat bread or hard porridge. Bland in taste, but saves lives. They are popularly cooked wrapped in big leaves after making a dough out of the Fapar flour and flattening the dough out in between leaves and then thrown into the woodfire embers.
I don't have any pictures of the Fapar plant to post, but I certainly will get some later, but for the time being, could anyone please look into this and give me an answer? Thanks.
