Rocket & Agathi Omelette

An ordinary omelette with some not-so-ordinary additions, both telling the story of a farm and how it functions except you’d have to take several bites and think on all the different taste-textures that meet your tongue—the creaminess of fresh farm eggs; the soft, layered, lightly bitter bite of the petals of Sesbania grandiflora flowers (agathipoo in Tamil), the crunch of onions and the sharpest burst of rucola flavor—to know what I mean. Rocket grows bountifully in AuroOrchard in this season. A few leaves pep and omelette as you see or a sandwich, a few more make a rocket-lifting salad or a pesto, and even more are a simple addition to the humble sambar. True, it’s a pity to cook arugula, but when there’s more than we can use that’s exactly what we do. Thought sambar was just an idli accompaniment? Nah. It’s the medium through which to consume all kinds of usual and unusual ingredients. And rocket has all the virtues of cruciferous vegetables (think: broccoli, kale, brussels sprouts) plus being from your local Auroville farm. It’s also said to reduce insulin resistance, which means it’s good for diabetics and better for general nutrition.

Rocket is the cultivated half of this story, agathi flowers are its wilder counterpart, bountiful in this season, too. The trees are a nitrogen-fixing barrier between two planting areas. Locals know the greens as potently medicinal, eaten infrequently to keep GI tract in good health; they’re usually cattle fodder. The flowers are gentler but pack a nutritional punch: high in Calcium, protein, vitamins A and C plus a range of trace minerals the body needs to stay in good overall health. And if not on an omelette, then stir-fried with beans!

So, the wild and the cultivated, the raw and the cooked, the bitter and the sweet, the sharp and the creamy—everything in their right proportions for good health and happiness!