Two wild plants and one dish
Ker: a small round berry, about the size of a pea or a little larger, from a bushy desert shrub with no proper leaves, only green, thorny stems.
Sangri: the long, slim green pods of the khejri tree, picked young and tender, then dried until they look like dark, twisted twigs.
- Ker bush
- Leafless, thorny, green-stemmed shrub
- Ker taste
- Sour and slightly bitter
- Khejri
- Rajasthan's state tree
- Sangri taste
- Nutty, earthy, chewy
- Often added
- Kumatiya seeds, dried red chillies, raisins
- Together: cooked side by side, the sour ker and the earthy sangri balance each other. Neither is quite as good alone.
- The flavour: sharp, tangy, slightly bitter and deeply savoury, with the heat of red chilli and the sourness of dried mango.
- The texture: chewy, almost meaty. Many vegetarian Rajasthanis say that is the point.
- Panchkuta: add the seeds of the kumatiya tree, gunda berries and dried chillies or raw mango, and you have panchkuta, the five-ingredient dish of Jaisalmer. Our food of Jaisalmer guide explains it.
The khejri, the tree the desert depends on
The state tree: the khejri is the state tree of Rajasthan, and in the desert it is close to sacred.
Everything is used: pods for food, leaves for fodder, dry branches for fuel and shade for people and animals in the heat.
- Good for the land: farmers say crops grow better under khejri, which enriches the soil, so the trees are left standing in the fields.
- Lopped, never felled: each year branches are cut back for fodder, but the tree itself is protected by custom in many villages.
- Worshipped: the khejri is honoured at Dussehra in many Rajasthani homes, and you will often see red thread tied around its trunk.
- Where to see it: almost anywhere between Jodhpur, Bikaner, Nagaur and Jaisalmer, often with a camel resting in its shade.
The Bishnoi story: people who died for a tree
Our grandmother told the story with real anger. The king's men came for wood, she said, and a mother hugged a tree and told them a head is cheaper than a tree. They took her head. Her daughters followed her, then the village. When she finished, she always said: and that is why we do not cut khejri.
The Bishnois: a community of western Rajasthan who follow twenty-nine rules set down by their founder, Guru Jambheshwar, in the fifteenth century, including protecting trees and animals.
- When
- 1730
- Where
- Khejarli, a village near Jodhpur
- Who
- Amrita Devi and the Bishnois of the village
- Remembered as
- One of the first great acts of tree protection
- What happened: in 1730 men sent to cut khejri trees at Khejarli for the Jodhpur court met resistance from the villagers. Amrita Devi and her daughters held the trees and were killed.
- The cost: tradition records that 363 Bishnois died before the cutting was stopped.
- The aftermath: the ruler of Jodhpur is said to have apologised and forbidden the cutting of trees and hunting in Bishnoi villages.
- Today: Bishnoi villages are still full of blackbuck and chinkara that wander unafraid among the houses. Our Bishnoi villages experience and journal on Bishnoi conservation tell more.
The harvest and the drying
Picking ker
When: the hot months, when the bushes fruit. Some ker are picked as green berries, some at the flower stage.
- How: by hand, carefully, because the stems are thorny.
- Fresh ker: too bitter to eat raw. Families soak them in salted water or buttermilk for days to draw out the bitterness.
Picking sangri
- When: around the same season, when the khejri pods are young, green and soft.
- How: pulled from the branches by hand or with a hooked stick. Old, woody pods are left for the animals.
Drying
Blanching: sangri are usually boiled briefly before drying, which keeps their colour and softens them.
- Sun-drying: both are spread on rooftops and cloths for days in the fierce sun, until they are hard and dry.
- Storing: kept in sealed tins and jars, they last for a year or more. This is the desert's larder.
From village to market
- Who sells it: village families sell the surplus to traders in the desert towns.
- Why it is costly: it is wild, hand-picked, hand-dried and harvested for only a few weeks. Good dried sangri is one of the most prized vegetables in Rajasthan.
From the poor man's food to the palace table
Famine food: in drought years, ker and sangri gathered from the wild kept desert families alive when crops failed.
Travellers' food: cooked with plenty of oil and spice, ker sangri keeps for days without spoiling, so it was carried on journeys and by caravans.
- Wedding food: in Marwar and the Thar it became a festive dish, served at weddings and feasts.
- Palace food: palace hotels now serve it as a signature of Rajasthani cooking, often beside laal maas and dal baati.
- City food: you will find it on the thalis of Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur, and in jars of pickle in every spice shop.
The rest of the desert larder
Kumatiya
- What it is: small flat seeds from the pods of a desert acacia, dried and cooked with ker and sangri.
- Taste: nutty and slightly sweet, a soft contrast to the sour ker.
Kachri
- What it is: a small wild desert melon, eaten fresh in the heat or sliced and dried.
- In the kitchen: dried kachri powder is used in chutneys and as a tenderiser for meat.
Gunda
- What it is: a sticky green fruit, also called lasoda, from a tree of dry country.
- How it is eaten: pickled, or added to panchkuta.
Bajra and moth
- Bajra: pearl millet, the grain of the desert, made into thick rotis and porridge.
- Moth: a small desert bean, eaten as dal and sprouts, and ground for Bikaner's famous bhujia.
Papad and mangodi
- What they are: sun-dried lentil wafers and small lentil dumplings, made on rooftops in the hot months.
- Why: like ker sangri, they turn a short season into food for the whole year.
Ingredients for our ker sangri
Dried sangri: 1 cup, about 50 g.
Dried ker: a quarter cup, about 25 g.
Kumatiya seeds: 2 tablespoons, optional, for a richer, panchkuta-style dish.
- Dried red chillies: 4 to 6 whole, plus 1 to 2 teaspoons of red chilli powder.
- Oil: 4 tablespoons of mustard oil, heated until it smokes and cooled slightly, or ghee.
- Whole spices: 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and a good pinch of asafoetida.
- Ground spices: 2 teaspoons of ground coriander, half a teaspoon of turmeric and 1 teaspoon of dried mango powder, amchur.
- Salt: to taste, carefully, because the ker may already be salty.
- Yoghurt: 2 tablespoons, optional, whisked, for a softer sauce.
- Raisins: a tablespoon, optional. Some families add them for a touch of sweetness against the sour.
Method, step by step
Step 1: soak overnight
- Rinse: wash the dried ker and sangri, and the kumatiya if using, in several changes of water to remove dust and grit.
- Soak: cover with plenty of water and leave overnight, or at least six to eight hours.
Step 2: boil
- Cook: drain, cover with fresh water and boil for fifteen to twenty minutes, until the sangri are tender but still chewy.
- Drain well: squeeze out excess water. Taste one ker. If it is very bitter, soak and boil once more.
Step 3: temper
- Heat the oil: in a heavy pan, warm the smoked mustard oil.
- Add whole spices: cumin, then the whole dried chillies and asafoetida. Let them sizzle for a few seconds.
Step 4: spice
- Ground spices: lower the heat, add the coriander, turmeric and chilli powder with a splash of water so they do not burn.
- Yoghurt: stir in the yoghurt now, if using, and cook until the oil separates.
Step 5: cook together
Add ker and sangri: stir well so every piece is coated in the spices.
- Cook gently: for ten minutes on a low flame, stirring now and then, until dry and glossy.
- Finish: add the dried mango powder, raisins and salt, and cook for two more minutes.
Step 6: rest
- Rest: let it sit for at least half an hour before serving. Ker sangri always tastes better later, and best on the second day.
How to eat it
With bajra roti: the classic pairing, with white butter, jaggery and buttermilk.
With puris: at weddings and festivals, ker sangri comes with fried puris, a combination families pack for train journeys.
- In a thali: beside dal, gatte, kadhi and dal baati churma. Our Rajasthani thali guide explains every bowl.
- As pickle: ker sangri pickle, achar, is sold in jars across Rajasthan and keeps for months.
- A little goes a long way: take a small spoonful first. The flavour is strong and sour.
Where to eat ker sangri in Rajasthan
In Jaisalmer: here it is everyday food, not a restaurant speciality. Order panchkuta too. See our food of Jaisalmer guide.
In Jodhpur: the thali at Gypsy in Sardarpura includes Marwari classics, and the palace hotels serve fine versions. See our food of Jodhpur guide.
- In Bikaner: the city of bhujia is also a city of desert vegetables. Our food of Bikaner guide has more.
- In a Rajput country house: Rohet Garh and other family-run forts serve ker sangri from the household's own recipe.
- In a desert camp: dinner under the stars, with ker sangri and bajra rotis off the fire, as on our Under the Thar sky journey.
- In Jaipur and Udaipur: on most Rajasthani thalis. Our food of Jaipur guide lists trusted addresses.
Cooking ker sangri with a desert family
A village kitchen near Jodhpur: spend a morning with a family in a village beyond the city, see the khejri in their fields and cook ker sangri on a clay stove.
A Bishnoi home: combine a visit to a Bishnoi village with a simple lunch. You will see how the trees and the food belong together.
- A haveli kitchen: our haveli cooking class in the old cities can include ker sangri, with a walk through the spice market first.
- At a desert camp: watch the camp cooks make bajra rotis and ker sangri over an open fire, and eat under the stars.
- Best season: October to March, when the desert is cool enough for a long morning outdoors.
Buying ker and sangri to take home
Where: the dry-goods shops around the clock tower market in Jodhpur, and the spice lanes of Bikaner and Jaisalmer.
What good sangri looks like: thin, even, dark green to brown, without dust or white spots.
- Where
- Spice and dry-goods shops in Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer
- Look for
- Even colour, no dust, no mould
- Keeps
- A year, sealed and dry
- Also buy
- Ker sangri pickle in sealed jars
- What good ker looks like: small, round, firm and evenly dark.
- Ready-mixed packs: many shops sell ker, sangri and kumatiya mixed for panchkuta. Ask for the proportions.
- Pack it: in sealed bags inside a tin. Check your own country's rules on importing dried plants and food.
- Fair trade: buy from shops that buy from village families. Our guides know which ones do.
What most visitors miss
The trees on the road: once you know the khejri, you will see it in every field between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. Ask your driver to stop beside one.
The bushes in the dunes: the leafless ker shrubs grow wild on the sand. In the hot months you may see the berries or the small flowers.
- The difference between kitchens: a village ker sangri and a palace one taste quite different. Try both and compare.
- The pickle shops: a jar of ker sangri achar from a good shop is one of the best souvenirs of the desert.
- The story: ask a Bishnoi elder about Khejarli. The dish tastes different once you have heard it.
Our family's tips
Soak longer, not shorter: under-soaked sangri stay woody and ker stay bitter.
Mustard oil, smoked: heat it until it smokes first, or it will taste raw and sharp.
- Go easy on salt: dried ker are often brined. Taste before you add salt.
- Sour, not sharp: if it is too sour, add a pinch of sugar or a few raisins; if too bitter, a little yoghurt.
- Vegan by nature: cooked in oil, ker sangri is naturally vegan and gluten-free, if the asafoetida is gluten-free.
- Make extra: it keeps for several days in the fridge and improves each day.
When to taste it, and who will love it
In winter in the Thar: between November and February, with bajra rotis and ghee on a cold desert night. Read our journal on winter in the Thar.
For vegetarians: it is one of the great vegetarian dishes of India, and nothing like anything you have eaten before.
- For the curious: if you like sour, bitter and bold flavours, you will love it from the first bite.
- Who might not: if you prefer mild, creamy food, start with a small spoon and keep a bowl of yoghurt close.
- For the whole picture: our Rajasthani food guide explains how the desert shaped every dish in the state.