Introduction of Hechi Shak: In most areas of Bangladesh, this vegetable is known as hechi sak. However, this vegetable has different names depending on the region, such as Mon-Beng Beng Jathong / Chira sak / Hechi sak / Haicha sak / Sechi sak. The common name of this vegetable is (Polvcarpon prostratum).
This vegetable Because it is not cultivated in the field, it is called a harvested vegetable. Except for the roots, all the branches and stems of this vegetable are used as vegetables. This vegetable is spread like a net on the ground.
The root of the plant grows from the stem like small branches which are later used as a vegetable. Its leaves are green in color and the stem is reddish and brown in color. In the month of Bengal, the plant bears small yellow flowers and the leaves are thick with the flowers along with the stem. sticks and produces small red colored seeds. Hechi has many medicinal properties.
Where to get hechi greens:
This vegetable is more or less available in almost all places of Bangladesh. However, this vegetable is more available in the plains. Especially grown in fields and farms along village roads. Moreover, it grows more in wet and damp places, this vegetable has different names depending on the region.
When is Hechi Shaka available:
Hechi vegetable is more available during monsoon as it grows more in wet and damp places. So during the dry season it is found in the house yard where there is damp but this vegetable is more or less available at all times of the year.
How to eat hechi vegetables:
Hechi vegetables are a bit sour to eat. But after collecting these greens, they should be washed well with clean water while still fresh, then cut into small pieces and cooked with oil, chili and turmeric. Moreover, coconut batter and shrimp fish can be used to enhance the taste.
This vegetable is cooked differently from region to region, for example, the Garo community keeps this vegetable inside a banana leaf and eats it by burning it on charcoal fire.
Benefits of hechi greens:
For most of the people in the village who are poor and cannot meet their food needs, hechi shak plays an important role as it fulfills the curry needs of the family as well as eliminates the nutritional needs. Children and women collect more in villages, besides, cooking khichuri with this vegetable is beneficial for small children and the broth of this vegetable is very beneficial for pregnant mothers.
Medicinal properties of hechi leaves:
1. Hechi juice taken in the morning on an empty stomach is good for nerve problems.
2. Cooking this vegetable increases the immune system of the body and helps to reduce mental tension.
3. Making khichuri soft with hechi vegetables and feeding it to children fulfills the nutritional needs of children.
4. Eating with rice is good for flatulence and other stomach problems.
5.Hetchi vegetable juice is good for sneezing and colds and helps to reduce allergy problems.
Caution:
Care should be taken while picking Hechi because some kind of poisonous insect lives in this plant.
After picking the vegetables, wash them well with clean water and observe whether any kind of insects are with the vegetables.
Vegetables must be collected keeping in mind whether pesticides and chemicals have been used in the fields from which they are collected.
When picking vegetables, you must pick the vegetables from a good place and be careful not to destroy the seeds of the vegetables.
In the month of Agrahayan, hechi leaves are flowered and the taste of the greens decreases a lot, so it is better not to collect hechi leaves in this month to increase the progeny of these vegetables.