My first culinary encounter with sembal dodde – which is what the buds of Bombax ceiba, or silk cotton tree, are called in Khadi Boli spoken in Saharanpur – was one of wonder. It is not so ...

Semal, the Bombax ceiba, flowers once a year at spring. It feels like a heritage tree—this is an Indian species which is a source of both beauty and value. In the manner of the best kind of ...