 Pearl Garlic | I found this variety of garlic a couple of weeks back. It’s called Pearl Garlic.Keep in mind that the term ‘Garlic Pearls’ refers to a pharmacological product. Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be much information available on this on the Internet – if you find a source, do let me know. I found it with a roadside peddler who had a bunch of other ayurvedic herbs and stuff alongside it, so I assume he was selling it for it’s medicinal properties. Haven’t tried cooking it yet, but will probably do that one of these weeks when I cook next – yup, the ‘busy’ wave is still very much on. It comes in three layers. The first layer is a hard shell as in the picture, which you need to partly peel and partly chip off. Inside that is another layer, which you can mostly peel off and within that is this creamy, round/oval pearl of garlic, which doesn’t emit any flavor unless you bruise it. It has this very subtle flavor, so subtle that you can actually eat it as is. Here’s the only site I found which has some information on Pearl Garlic. |
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That sounds very interesting, do let us know when you use it for cooking. I’ve never heard of it before, it must be a well kept Himalyan secret. Have you eaten any raw yet?
I did try eating one raw… wasn’t bad really – quite mellow.
I’m sure I’ve come to to your blog before. The pearl garlic seems very interesting. Where did you find it?
Pearl garlic is a term coined for the garlic bulbils that form at the top of the scape. Nothing particularly magical about them, but delicious for sure!
http://www.kitchengardeners.org/2007/09/garlic_bulbils.html
@Shaheen: I got it from a street seller, hawking ayurvedic and herbal therapy related ingredients. I’m going to try a little test shortly – cook the same thing using different types of garlic and see what happens.
@Saara: Thank you! I do recall visiting that site and reading a bit there, but couldn’t related to the form of this garlic, which is encased in two relatively hard layers. Also, could you elaborate on ‘top of the scape’ please? I’m not much of a gardener.
Morning Sid!
Such a cool plant since all of it is edible through its many life stages!
As you probably know, a garlic clove is planted (usually the previous fall) and over the season forms into the familiar bulb which we dig up and enjoy. In addition to a few leaves, the garlic will also send up a flower. Most gardeners will harvest this so the plant puts all its energy into the bulb. The flower shoot is called the scape and is cut before actually blossoming. You’ll see these in the summer at the farmers market. They usually are quite curled. They have a mild garlic flavor and are delicious in sautees.
If the scape isn’t cut off, the garlic will bloom. The flowers are also edible and make a lovely addition to salads. Some varieties will form bulbils (seeds actually) instead of flowers. Here, finally, are your garlic pearls. They’re sometimes called top-setting garlic. (In the onion family, there’s an Egyptian walking onion, for example, that behaves in a similar fashion.)
Can you plant the pearlsj? Yes, but it can take 2 years before you get a harvest. This is a good way to avoid soil contamination issues particularly for commercial growers.
So there you are, more about garlic than I know.
Hi Sara, Thanks a ton for all that info – I wonder why that site I saw said it grows at very high altitudes?
Sid, of course I read that you got them from a street hawker. I’m more interested to know where exactly! Which city are you from?
@Shaheen: Of course, quite silly of me. I live in NOIDA and bought the garlic from Chandigarh.
You’re in Mumbai?
Oh I was hoping I’d find them here! Yes, I’m from Mumbai.
I suspect that they have that hard casing because of the fact that they grow high in Himalaya and the ground would be very cold indeed.
Have you cooked with them yet? They are available here as a food supplement, from an Ayurveda shop, £6.50 a bottle. I’m considering buying just for the novelty value but am wondering how hard it will be to break the double casing and get the perle out, do I have the strength?
Hello Toni,
No, haven’t cooked with them yet – up to my ears in my ‘day job’. If you’re buying them, please make sure they aren’t the manufactured tablet/capsule variety.
I certainly will, these are definitely the whole bulbs. Got your nose to the grindstone again have you? I have a day off today and, wouldn’t you know, it’s raining!
I’ve never seen this. My first thought was that I’d love to grow some myself but alas the link says it’s only grown in the Himalayas. It does look pretty though.
Looks interesting!
ah…defintiely interesting…looks almost like a longan..
Hi I am from Canada I found this garlic at a seed store years ago but I can’t remember which one, we loved it , so i have ordered some on the site you suggested. It is easy to grow . Kim
I have heard that the pearl garlic has a excellent medicinal value. It is recommended for people who have bad cholesterol profile. It thinner your blood and also react with plaque in arteries and reduces the plaque. It is quite popular in India. Traditionally planted in China and hard to find or get.
I added this page to Reddit
Hi Sid,
Im a chef and a friend of Suman’s. She says good things about you and your blog:) Anyways have been reading this post and i also happened upon these lovely little pearl garlic thingies about a year ago in Trichi. They are seasonal and appear in the local markets very rarely. I bought all i could find and what i didnt use in my restaurant, i pickled in vinegar aling with green chillies and they still are hangin about me kitchen. I love their delicate flavour and texture. When they are pickled, they take on a lovely crunchy texture and go wonderfully with some Kerala Fried Fish, plain old Dal and Rice:0
cheers
gautam
Hi Folks,
Good day to you. Yes you are right, Pearl Garlic is not available in all retail stores. However, some of the provision stores do have them. This is a variety of Garlic known and famous for its medicinal properties.
Synopsis ::
Pearl Garlic is very very beneficial in the following health conditions :: Arthritis, Heart conditions – with or without bypass surgery, Joint pains, frozen shoulders and mainly in bringing back the cholestrol levels to normal.
Availability ::
In Jammu / Kashmir, Mumbai (chembur), Dadar, Byculla and retail stores who get it from their representatives from Kashmir. As rightly said, this variety of garlic (as in Pearl Garlic – PG) is grown only in mountenous regions. This is normally priced at RUPEES 35 for 50 grams.
Treatment ::
Assuming a person has heart / Arthritis or joint problems.. he/she can go in for the undermentioned treatment.. It is 50 days course.. Even a person without any health condition, can go in for this treatment.
Take one today, two tomorrow, three day after. This way, take for 25 days.. So, on 25th day, you would be taking 25 pearls. From 26th day, make it 24, on 27th day, make it 23 and this way, on the 50th day,you would be taking 1.
By this time, your joint pains would have gone (majorly), cholestrol levels etc. would have become normal. BP would be taken care off.
How to take the PG ::
Chew PG raw alongwith either warm milk or with warm water, in empty stomach first thing in the morning. Have Tea or anything else, after a gap of min. half hour or preferably 1 hour.
Post completion of this treatment cycle, you can take these PGs 10 a day or a daily basis.
Points to be noted ;:
This treatment is not a magic one and you would need to stick to proper and normal diet; Dont binge on OIly, fried, fast junk foods.. And yes… go in for a vegetarian diet..
Best Regards
Sulurs.
Hi sulurs,
will you send me detail address as from where i can buy in delhi or mumbai.
thanks,
regards,
rajesh
some ayurvedic herbs have nasty side effects too that is why you should carefully choose the safer ones ‘.;
Hello, I live in South Australia and have just discovered pearl garlic growing wild along a roadside. The garlic originates in Yunnan China but was brought out to Australia by Prussian refugees in the 1840′s. so marco polo’s silk road took more than spices and material. it grows in the Himalyayas and is known as snow garlic. I have been eating it all winter as the bulb is actively growing and it is hot and delicious. I do not eat the bulbils (what you call pearls) …I have been planting them.My intention is to farm it and yes it is a long term crop but so worth the effort. Some of the globes I have been digging are as large as a golfball and some even bigger. All sizes are pungent and flavoursome so if you buy bulbils and can force yourself to wait..plant them and in a couple of years enjoy. P.s. people of german extraction in the Barossa Valley – near where I live- call this garlic Apple garlic so I guess there are several coloquial names for it. and yes there is not much info about it as yet. cheers Vicki
Thank you for sharing that Vicki… perhaps a photo or two of those golf ball sized garlic could be shared on facebook.com/chefatlarge.in?