FOOD SPECIAL ....BUNCH OF TANGY GREEN.PALAK

 PALAK..Bunch of Tangy Green

The khatta palak comes recommended for good health. And its lemony tartness will add to your repertoire of flavours

    If there is one thing that the great Indian supermarket scene is wiping out, it is local greens. The low demand for green leafy vegetables other than palak and methi, and the fact that they have a very short shelf life mean that you rarely see them in supermarkets any more.

    One such green is khatta palak. This beautiful vegetable could almost pass off as spinach. However, on more detailed inspection, you will find the leaves to be triangular-shaped and a little fleshier than spinach. Take a little bite of a leaf and it will reveal its true identity. The tart, lemony flavour of khatta palak makes this stand out from its similar-looking cousins.

    Botanists know it as Rumex vesicarius but it is important to be familiar with khatta palak’s local nomenclature to identify it at your vegetable vendor’s with whom you are most likely to find it. Also known as country sorrel, khatta palak is called chukkakura in Telugu, chukkankeerai in Tamil and hammaaz in Urdu.

    The genus Rumex has around 200 species of herbs belonging to the buckwheat family, colloquially called docks or sorrels. In folk botany, the words sorrel, dock, rhubarb and spinach are used interchangeably, causing some confusion in identifying the greens. Some of the other known edible greens from this genus are Rumex acetosa (garden sorrel or chuk in Hindi) and Rumex scutatus (French sorrel or ambavati in Hindi).

    Nancy Arrowsmith, founder of Kraut & Rüben, Germany’s first organic gardening magazine, explains in her book Essential Herbal Wisdom: A Complete Exploration of 50 Remarkable Herbs that the name “sorrel” is derived from the old German and French word for ‘sour’. Sorrels grow as weeds in places with acidic soil. The sour taste of the leaves is because of their high oxalic acid content (people predisposed to kidney stones, gout and rheumatoid arthritis are advised to avoid eating foods rich in oxalic acid, and hence they should eat khatta palak in moderation). Oxalic acid also prevents absorption of calcium, but it is broken down on cooking. Hence, by cooking khatta palak, you can ensure that it doesn’t interfere with the absorption of calcium from any other foods that you may be eating it with, such as paneer or yoghurt.

There’s a Lot Going For It

The English physician Culpeper advocated sorrel as a way to build appetite and “cool inflammation and heat of blood”. In his book Indian Medicinal Plants: An Illustrated Dictionary, herbalist CP Khare notes that khatta palak has an astringent taste. Rich in vitamin C, it has always been valued for its ability to prevent scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, especially at a time when other vitamin C-rich foods were not available or affordable. It acts as a diuretic; aids digestion; relieves constipation and alleviates bronchitis and asthma. Moreover, this medicinal wonder is considered beneficial while healing disorders of the lymphatic and glandular systems; diseases of the liver and spleen; and urinary and renal disorders. The seeds have antidysenteric properties.

    The tender, young leaves are perfect for use in salads. The mature leaves are best reserved for soups, sauces and stews. In Russia, sorrel is a favourite soup plant. The Russians even have agricultural programmes to breed varieties that have soft leaves that are not too fibrous and ideal to put in soups.

Slurry to Soups

There are several ways to use up a fresh bunch of khatta palak. An Andhra recipe uses the tart leaves in a pachadi, a type of chutney eaten with steamed rice. The sautéed, wilted leaves are ground with sautéed chillies, cumin and garlic with a tempering of chana dal, urad dal, dried red chillies, mustard and cumin seeds. Maharashtrians call the leaves ambat chuka and use them to make a hearty side dish using cooked greens, boiled peanuts and chana dal, thickened with a gram flour slurry. This is eaten with jowar or bajra rotis.

    You could also use these tangy greens instead of regular spinach to make dal palak or make a cream of sorrel soup using egg whites and heavy cream to lend it body. One of the most inventive uses for the leaves was suggested by William Kitchiner, the inventor of the telescope, who also had a passion for cooking. In his book The Cook’s Oracle published in 1827, he recommended slow-cooking sorrel leaves with a knob of butter for a quarter of an hour and passing the resulting sauce through a fine sieve. He particularly recommended serving up this sorrel sauce seasoned with a pinch of cayenne pepper, nutmeg and lemon juice under lamb, veal or even sweetbreads.

    For more ideas on how to cook with khatta palak and a variety of Indian greens, it’s worth reading Cooking with Green Leafy Vegetables, a book by Shyamala Kallianpur. It has photos of and recipes using more than 30 varieties of edible greens found in India. Like palak and other greens, khatta palak is extremely versatile and you can use it in a variety of dishes, keeping in mind its tart nature and balancing flavours accordingly. It pairs particularly well with lentils. Cooking and eating it would not only be a way of earning some good health karma, it would also ensure that this delicious, traditional green is not forgotten.

:: Nandita Iyer ET130303