Wild Greens of The Indian Monsoon
While there is a myth that leafy vegetables should be avoided during the monsoons, wild seasonal greens have been part of our traditional diets for centuries.
When the rains didn’t bring with it traffic snarls and overflowing drainage, I enjoyed it. When it meant giving the school a miss occasionally and playing with friends, I loved it. And when it meant not eating green leafy vegetables, I felt ecstatic.
Green vegetables become susceptible to worms and germs, my mother would often say. However, that joy was short-lived because very soon, bowls of radish leaves cooked with moong dal or colocasia leaves vegetables would suddenly make an appearance on the dining table.
Monsoon greens have their distinct place in the seasonal food calendar in our country. Depending upon the location, different communities across India have traditionally been consuming a variety of green leafy veggies during the season.
In Kerala, Hindus observe Karkidaka Masam in the months of July and August. The community indulges in spiritual activities and consumes medicinal herbs. The locals forage leaves of 10 medicinal plants from their backyard and make a dish called pathila thoran.
Though the dish is mostly made with colocasia leaves, elephant yam leaves, cow pea leaves, oval-shaped cassia, stinging nettle leaves, ash gourd leaves, spiny amaranth, Mysore spinach, pumpkin leaves and ivy gourd leaves, people replace it with what is available locally. Sautéed with onions, green chillies, ginger, turmeric and coconut, the leaves are stir-fried. Some may choose to add cooked moong dal to the dish.
“In the months of July and August, it is constantly raining, there is low sunlight, you don’t step out and one is prone to infections. Pathila thoran helps build immunity. These leaves have different properties which help you fight infections, aid digestion. The leaves give you good fat, some of them are rich sources of iron and calcium. I think it is such a beautiful way of bringing together different knowledge in one dish,” says Kozhikode-based Shruti Tharayil. A self-taught herbalist, Tharayil shares her knowledge and experiences with wild greens through her social media pages called Forgotten Greens.
Shruti Tharayil foraging for wild greens
Photo credit: Shruti Tharayil
It was during one monsoon that Shruti rediscovered stinging nettle for her family. “I always wondered about stinging nettle which was growing in my own backyard. I just knew it stings. My mother had forgotten how to cook it. My old and ailing grandmother somehow recollected the recipe and we started to eat it again,” adds Tharayil.
In north Kerala homes, meat lovers find solace in kozhi marunnu during Karkkadakam or Karkidakam. Kozhi marunnu is a dish in which chicken is cooked along with 30 plus medicinal herbs and spices like pepper, dry ginger, turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, false black pepper, carom seeds, a herbal plant called Indian screw tree known as ‘idampiri valampiri’ locally. These spices sold as a kozhi marunnu packet in Ayurveda shops, are believed to nourish the body, build immunity and aid digestion.
With the first spell of rain, water spinach or anne soppu, as it is known locally, erupts magically on the peripheries of fields in parts of Karnataka. Its slender leaves can be stir-fried, added to lentils or made into a curry. “Locals enjoy it as bassaru which is accompanied with ragi mudde (ragi balls). You can only find anne soppu during the rains so people go foraging for it. In other seasons it goes underground,” explains artist Suresh Kumar. In 2019, Kumar started Sarjapur Curries in rural Bangalore — a community garden to revive edible weeds and local seasonal greens. He has now expanded to a bigger farm where he grows traditional plants and vegetables using sustainable farm practices. The farm conducts workshops, hosts meet-ups of urban gardeners and encourages sharing of seeds and knowledge. Kumar has started to take individual orders for vegetables, a sizeable chunk of which is dominated by local leafy greens unlikely to be found in vegetable stores. Right now, Kumar offers mixed greens of anne soppu (water spinach) chenchilakku (false amaranth) and kare gidda (surattense nightshade).
Kare gidda growing in Suresh Kumar's farm
Photo credit: Artist Suresh Kumar
Water spinach is relished as kalmi saag in many parts of North India and West Bengal. Noida-based Madhumita Chakravarti has vivid memories of eating kolmi shaak bhaja prepared by her mother on wet and chilly nights in Kolkata. “I remember my mother serving it with hot rice during the rainy season. It was sautéed in mustard oil, kalonji, panch foran and red chilli powder and stir-fried. This combination would be a source of warmth and comfort. It was delightful.”
Twenty-five year old Venesa Sekho was preparing to cook sougri (Gongura/roselle leaves) kangsoi with shrimps just as I called her in Imphal for a brief chat. Even though gongura is a perennial plant, many prefer to eat it while it's raining. Being rich in Vitamin C and zinc, gongura strengthens the immune system, which is much needed to fight infections during this season. Also, its long stems increase the distance from the soil, making it less prone to contaminations. For Jio, the tangy leaves of gongura compliment the prawns well.
Iskus or chayote, a vegetable from the gourd family, is a commonly available vegetable in Manipur. During the monsoon, as its vine rapidly climbs over trellises in farms, rooftops and terraces, people consume not just the fruit but also its leaves. They turn tender and juicy in this weather. To make chayote squash, locals use the leaves, along with the fruit, potatoes and dry meat. Similarly pumpkin leaves are cooked along with bamboo shoots and dry meat.
The reluctance to eat spinach and the unavailability of fenugreek, pigweed and mustard doesn’t mean a shrunken palette. A number of greens thrive during this season across the country. The interestingly-shaped fiddlehead fern has quite a fan following in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur where they are consumed as pickles, curries and stir-fries.
Rain and piping hot pakoras (fritters) are a match made in heaven. In this season, besides potato and onion, several leafy vegetables also go into the bhajiyas and vadas. While Bengal dayflower, colocasia/taro leaves are commonly used in fritters, stinking cassia leaves are added to vadas. How you pluck these leaves is also crucial. According to Tharayil, only a handful of tender leaves of Bengal dayflower should be plucked as the non tender leaves can be difficult for the system to digest.
Ingredients prepped for stinging nettle soup
Photo credit: Shruti Tharayil
In Uttar Pradesh (UP), food lovers swear by taro (arbi patta) dishes cooked in the season. It is eaten in the form of fritters, a dry vegetable or as patoday curry. Patode curry are taro leaf rolls which are steamed, fried and then added to a curry which to many taste like a fish curry.
Journalist and author Ziya us Salam belongs to Rampur in UP but grew up in Delhi where his mother continued to make the traditional delicacy of patode — taro leaves rolls smeared in a batter of besan and fried. “They were mildly spiced and usually served for dinner along with paranthe and pink masoor daal (split pink lentils). I learnt it from my mother because I loved the dish and would often cook it. I have also taught it to my wife.”
Rural folks in Maharashtra look forward to the rains so that they can forage wild shewla and phodshi growing in abundance. As these wild greens come up for a short span of time, they remain much sought after. Shewla is an attractive looking single stalk with a spathe. The spathe is removed and stalk is chopped to make bhaji or added to prawn curry. Phodshi is yet another lesser known wild green that makes a brief appearance in the region during the season. Looking like grass, it is added to shrimp fritters or made into a subzi.
The popular narrative has been that of avoiding green leafy vegetables during the rains, but when you have such a treasure of wild edible plants blooming all over, it doesn’t make sense. “My understanding is that the plants that grow throughout the year get insects during this time and hence it is best to avoid those, but those that come up for a short time in this weather should be consumed. They are a rich source of nutrition,” says Tharayil.
So next time you come across a wild weed, don’t judge it as an unnecessary invasive plant. For all you know, it could be a perfect snack for your tea or a flavoursome addition to your curries.
Shailaja Tripathi is a Bangalore-based journalist whose soul lives in Delhi. She is moved by all things art and culture.You can follow her work here https://shailajaatwork.contently.com/
Banner image: Stinging nettle; photo courtesy: Shruti Tharayil
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