Himalaya Darshan from Khirsu
Venturing out to pristine forests of Deodar and Oak at a height of 6300 feet above sea level near forest rest house Khirsu, gave me one more great reason to celebrate. While walking on pebbled pathways around my guest house at Khirasu, I noticed a tree with beautiful but small red and dark blue fruits. The tree was well laden with them in the first week of May 15. I enquired about the fruit from a local man and he told me that it was ‘Kaafal” or Bay Berry. I was told that this fruit ripens in month of May and June and is a local delicacy. The tree is found around the height of 6000 feet only. I got to know this fruit is very popular in Nepal too.
Kaafal
I requested the forest rest house staff to get that fruit for me. The helpful staff ventured out to nearby trees and got me a bowl full of Kaafal. I could not wait after seeing it and popped in few of them. It was really yummy. The taste was sweet basically but with a different flavour. I had not tasted it before ever. I ate a lot of them and perhaps the largest portion between my brother, brother in law and myself. It was a great and exclusive feast really. I was then advised to eat it with a touch of raw mustard oil and red chili and salt powder. It now tasted even better. I was just thinking after eating them, that even after visiting few countries around the world and much of India I had not tasted this great fruit ever. The nature has really more bounties to relish than we can think of.
Thanks Mother Nature!
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