Exotic Foreign Vegetables Are Now Home Grown In India

Gone are the days, when star hotels and top eateries across the country used to import exotic vegetables from different part of world. But no more, most of the exotic vegetables are now grown in our own backyard. This is possible due to diverse climatic condition in our country, snow clad hills, dessert, costal area, temperate zones you name it and we have it. So we have baby kale, shishito peppers, black tomatoes, ancho chillies, white bird's eye chilli, yellow and black paperika, round Parisian carrots, wasabi rocket, komatsuna, blackberries, white chikoo, watermelon radish, butter head lettuce, Shishir leaves, lavender, garlic chives, Apple mint, fennel pollen, purple corn, broccoli you name it and you can have it.

I recollect an interesting anecdote happened with me around 1998. I was sitting with a friend of mine in Moradabad, who was exporter by profession but also had a passion to grow vegetables in his farmhouse. He was complaining that his crop of cauliflower was strangely bad damaged and white flower turned green. I was little curious to see the sample, what I saw was a pleasant surprise, it was not cauliflower but broccoli crop. The seeds were procured from Pantnagar Agricultural University , during that period broccoli was successfully grown in the university campus and my friend got broccoli seeds instead of cauliflower . When I told that price of broccoli in Mumbai was around Rs 60 per kg, he was taken aback . Time has just flowed, Pantnagar farmers are hugely benefitted due to innovations and experimentation in the university, their crop of broccoli reap moolah now.

But plants have interesting history of journey from one continent to the other. It is very difficult to believe  that our chai is originally from China brought to India by Britishers, Rajma has its origin in the first beans found in Central Mexico and Guatemala in 700 BC, which travelled with explores to our Subcontinent  in 1500 AD. Potato, which is now an essential part of Indian kitchen, was first found in South Peru and North Western Bolavia. It was brought by Portuguese only four centuries back. Methi and Dhania which are in English Fenugreek and Corriender are from Greece, your adrak is originated from Soth China and Tamarind  has its origin in East Africa. Strawberry is originated from  North  and South America, Hawaiian Islands, then came to Europe four hundred years back, now grown in abundance in Hills of Mahabaleshwar in abundance. How these plants and seeds traveled so far and wide in the ancient time when transportation was a big challenge ? Thanks to trade, war, colonisation, marriages as well as migration. Now it is much much easy to bring seeds and plants, online seed catalogues are available, select order and will be delivered at your door step. The only thing, you should choose seeds suitable for your area's climatic and soil condition.

Growing exotic vegetables and fruit is quite a lurecative business due to the higher prices. Many entrepreneurs closer to Mumbai have started growing exotic vegetables as the demand from star hotels, top restaurants is very high. The craze for these vegetables has grown as more and more affluent Indians stayed abroad started settling over in Mumbai as well as many foreigners came down to work in Mumbai. You visit any of the Godrej Nature Basket, stay there for some time then you will understand that there is a fast growing market for these exotic vegetables.

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