” i have come across you many times but then you were just a pretty plant. Until one day, you became useful. Then some day delicious. ”
Ananthnul or ananthmool (H) is named after the never-ending root this plant has. In konkani we call it dudhval (dudh – milk, val – creeper). A plant that gives a milky sap from its leaves or a plant that helps in the production of milk in lactating mothers.
Having 110 Sanskrit names,43 in Kannada, 41 in Sanskrit, 33 in Telugu and 12 in Hindi, this plant seems to be pretty popular. I’ll list out its virtues later. But the part of this plant that is edible is its – root.
Hemidesmus Indicus or Indian Sarsaparilla is now cultivated in some places for its medicinal use. You can find it in ayurvedic shops or online in dried root and powder form. Some shops sell the ‘mix and drink’ version.
One interesting thing I found out while searching the term sarsaparilla is a product called ‘Sarsaparilla Root Beer’. While the root is from a different plant (sassafras root bark) from Central America, there are similar products made from Indian Sarsaparilla too.
We have this plant growing wild all over the place on our farm. I have dug up a couple of looking plants, but getting the thick roots out was a little difficult.
In the current trend of having processed, preservative filled, bottles juices, tasting something home made, fresh and earthy is refreshing. So, I got some ananthmool roots from the local ayurvedic shop. Rinsed the roots in water and dried them. The next day I coarsely ground them using the small bowl of the electric mixer.
The ground powder (about 100 gms), 250 gms jaggery, and a tsp of salt were put into a steel vessel and topped up with a liter of water. This mixture was left to soak for about an hour. Then, on slow heat, we boiled it until the liquid was reduced in half. Once cooled, we strained the mix and poured the liquid into a bottle.
We have tried this with water and nut milk. We loved it both ways. The kids preferred the cashew nut milk mix.
Make it, enjoy it for its taste. While you do, remember that this is also a cooling drink to have in the summers. It is a known body coolant. Hence, ‘ushna’ body types will find health benefits in its regular use. While the leaves have wound healing abilities, the root can be used to treat ulcers, fever, asthma, wounds, purify blood, treat urinary tract infections, and rheumatic joints.
Jungli Food 