Leave it to the leaves

Rahul Verma

A CONVERSATION with a Kolkata chef changed my worldview on greens. Growing up in western Uttar Pradesh, I eagerly waited every winter for the deliciously creamy spinach dish that was served when the temperature dipped. The saag was flavoured with dollops of white butter, and eaten with thick missi rotis and a large piece of jaggery. Spinach, mustard and fenugreek were the only leaves that I knew of then, apart from a few other varieties such as bathua.

Many years later, an innovative chef called Sharad Dewan introduced me to various other kinds of saag (or shaak, as they call it in the East). From kalmi (swamp or water spinach, also called water morning glory) and pui (Malabar spinach) to lau pata (bottle gourd) and kochu (taro), there is an entire world of greens out there. You sauté them, steam them, cook them with potatoes or other vegetables, or wrap them around shrimps and fish.

Palak, sarson and methi, no doubt, are excellent leaves — and I love everything that you can prepare with them, from paranthas and rotis to sabzis and dals. But I have now been exploring various other types of leaves — and am amazed at the way greens are eaten in different parts of the country. One of the most beneficial is the sajna phali leaf. Sajna or moringa is being seen as a superfood across the world now, but has been a part of our cuisines for eons. A simple bhaji can be prepared with onions, garlic and a few spices.

Our early literature mentions moringa, as well as methi, bathua and palak. Food historian KT Achaya writes that people ate green leafy vegetables back in the Sutra period (800-300 BC). “It is notable that green leafy vegetables, used so long ago as food in India, are today recognised as rich and inexpensive sources of vitamin A, vitamin C, the B group of vitamins and minerals, iron and calcium,” he writes in ‘Indian Food: A Historical Companion’.

The leaves of native gourds have been nourishing our ancestors, and are now being cooked in interesting ways. The baby leaves of bottle gourds or pumpkin plants, for instance, are used to enhance the taste of food. A piece of fish, marinated in mustard paste and oil, is then wrapped in a leaf and steamed. If the leaf is tender, you eat it along with the fish, with the taste of the leaf and the fish complementing each other.

One of the finest food books on such dishes is Down to Earth’s ‘First Food: Culture of Taste’. It was in this eclectic collection that I learnt about peepal bhaji. Tender leaves and buds are washed, boiled till soft, and cooked with tamarind (or buttermilk), and served with rice. It also mentions a dish prepared with bichhu ghas, or nettle. Kanali ka saag, it says, is prepared with bichhu ghas, jakhiya seeds, asafoetida, salt and mustard oil. An enterprising hotelier once served me bichhu ghas ki chutney in Lansdowne — and decades later, I still remember its singular taste. You will find such chutneys and dishes in the remote parts of hilly areas where fresh vegetables are scarce. One of my favourites is patrodey — layers of arbi leaves smeared with besan and spices, rolled up and fried. These leaves, as Achaya tells us, have great properties.

Take kaddisoppu, a climbing shrub found in the Eastern and Western Ghats. It is bitter in taste but rich in iron, magnesium, alkaloids and phytosterols. Many believe that it helps cure a cold or a cough, and is an effective remedy for stomach ailments. ‘First Food’ tells us that it is eaten in different ways. Stir-fry the leaves in oil with garlic, onion and chillies till the leaves get crispy — and then eat them with rotis.

One of my favourite leaves is kalmi. Chef Dewan, who made my green-leafy world richer, gave me many reasons why the kalmi rules. It is available in abundance, so it never gets too expensive. “It is neither sharp nor overpowering in flavour, so it goes well with other dishes,” he told me once. You can stir-fry it with minced garlic and almond flakes, often with other greens, or make a panch phoron-flavoured sabzi with small dal vadis.

Morning, as the saying goes, shows the day. And morning glory, I may add, shows a whole new world.

Moringa Saag Bhaji

Ingredients

Moringa leaves 2 cups

Garlic (chopped) 1 tbsp

Onion (chopped) 1 large

Green chillies 2, slit

Cumin seeds (jeera) ½ tsp

Mustard oil For frying

Salt To taste

Method

Discard the stems of the moringa leaves. Rinse and dry the leaves. Add cumin seeds in hot oil, and then garlic and chillies. Add the onions. When the onions turn golden-brown, add the moringa leaves and stir well. Cover for a few minutes. Take off the lid and sauté the leaves for another minute or two. Serve with hot rotis.