Vegetable - Gogu Leaves

Gogu Leaves (Roselle)

Health Benefits Nutrition Facts Beauty tips Naming Convention Varieties Allergies Other tips

About the Vegetable :Gogu or Roselle Leaves are available in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. Gongura is popular in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Manipur, Tripura and also Mizoram.A baby gongura leaf is a full leaf. As the leaf grows older, the leaf splits into four or more parts.

Scientific / Binomial name : Hibiscus cannabinus

Popularly Known as :Ambaadi,Huli Soppu, Pulicahi keerai, Gongura, Pundi Palle, Roselle, karkade, asam belanda, lumanda, katolo, galda, Guragod, Labug, Pundu koora

Usage :

• In Andhra cuisine, Hibiscus cannabinus, called gongura, is extensively used. The leaves are steamed along with lentils and cooked with dal. The other unique dish prepared is gongura pachadi, it is prepared by mixing fried leaves with spices and made into a gongura pacchadi, the most famous dish of Andhra cuisine and is often described as king of all Andhra foods.
• In Burmese cuisine, called chin baung ywet (lit. sour leaf), the roselle is widely used and considered an affordable vegetable for the population. It is perhaps the most widely eaten and popular vegetable in Burma.The leaves are fried with garlic, dried or fresh prawns and green chili or cooked with fish. A light soup made from roselle leaves and dried prawn stock is also a popular dish.
• Among the Bodo tribals of Bodoland, Assam (India) the leaves of both hibiscus sabdariffa and hibiscus cannabinus are cooked along with chicken, fish, crab or pork, one of their traditional cuisines.
• In the Philippines,the leaves and flowers are used to add sourness to chicken dish "Tinola" (Polynesian Chicken Stew).
• Other well known recipes made with Gongura as the main ingredient are Gongura Pappu (Lentils), Gongura mamsam (goat/mutton) and Gongura royyalu (shrimp). In recent times, Gongura Chicken is also being served in restaurants. Gongura and calabash is extremely popular with the Telugu community in South Africa.