THANGJING

Weekend trip to Sanjenbam today amidst heavy rains which halts just as we reached the destination. Pluck Thangjing a watery thorny plant of the lotus family which fruit contains numerous sweet seeds when ripe. Eaten raw or boiled or cooked in THANGJING SINGJU (chilly, salt and fermented fish called NGARI garnished with coriander, spring onion, mayangmaton, tuningkok etc.), in IROMBA (exquisite hot dish cooked with various vegetables, NGARI and garnished as above) and in other curries.

The seeds are contained in hard spherical shells bigger in size from peas which have to be broken by the teeth in half and the white sweet contents (full of carbohydrate, starch, protein, vitamins etc.) taken out by the incisors!

Only covered about a quarter of the pond and gathered about a bagful of the Thangjing in the end. Elsewhere, got another bagful of sweet lotus seeds called THAMCHET. A plentiful of bounty today with the trip inspite of a few pin pricks from the thorns.