Summer is our favorite time since it ushers in different fresh produce every week at Dane county farmers market in Madison and the last weekend we were able to find some Amaranth.
What is Amaranth
Amaranth (amaranthus cruentus) is a produce that one rarely finds at supermarkets and also find at the farmers market for a very short duration. The amaranth seeds are well known and used in various cooking and in india they are called rajgira. The amaranth seeds can be used for various amaranth recipe like amaranth patties and amaranth porridge. Amaranth Flour is also a well known substitute for many recipes. The leaves can be of various sub varieties and in india you get ones which are vibrantly purple all around and called lal maath (i maybe wrong here since there are not always direct translations of sub genus of Indian names into American produce). The Amaranth we found was of the tri-color variety with lovely greens with red and purple patches. They are also called tandlja or even just rajgira plant. It is very attractive and unique due to being a vibrant purple leaf vegetable. (There is a green variety too and might be of the species amaranthus dubius)
Palebhaji Sautee in a Kadhai – Amaranth Leaves Stir Fry
This is a very exciting Amaranth Recipe and super delicious even though the cooking process itself is very simple. The leafy vegetables are called palebhaji in marathi. My mom always cooked them using a stir fry method in a pan called kadhai. If we can never figure out what to do with a leafy vegetable we can always use her palebhaji technique. It involves chopping the leaves and finely chopping any stems. It uses some green chilies and garlic for sauteing with cumin and mustard being optional. The garlic is smashed and roughly chopped. It always uses a lot of garlic. It is important to know that the garlic is not caramelized and rather sweated to create garlic flavor oil and also to leave bites of raw garlic for a pop of intense flavor. Caramelized fried garlic is used when greens are pureed since it also adds a textural element.
The heart of this technique is to use a really large hot pan with oil and use the large surface area to cook the greens quickly so they are wilted. Having large quantities of leafy greens makes this difficult so we suggest to cook only those that will fit your pan, maybe you have to do two batches but it does make a difference.
Our Tip for sauteing Palebhaji with Garlic for Amaranth recipe with Amaranth leaves
One of the biggest mistakes one can make as a beginner cook is to burn the garlic. If it browns it mellows and flavor changes. The easiest way is to chop the garlic and mix it in with the leaves and this easy step yields good results every time although this is not the traditional way.
Once the pan with sautéing oil is hot, add chopped leaves and garlic and chili mix and on high heat cook quickly moving the leaves around as they start to wilt. Once they are wilted, splash some water to de-glaze the pan and cook covered on high heat making sure not to burn the leaves. This means listening to the pan or checking and stirring it every now and then. When the steam of added water and that in the leaves escapes it makes a soft hissing noise but it also tells you that there’s still moisture in the pan which will avoid burning. Within a few minutes this should be ready and then you can season it with salt and taste to add a pinch of sugar for balance if needed. For or stir fried cooked amaranth, we did not use sugar as the leaves were already flavorful with a hint of sweetness. It is not traditional but also a hint of acid helps brings out more delicate flavors and just for fun you could garnish this with a hint of lemon zest.
These leafy saute’s taste better with the Indian soft flatbread called chapati rather than tandoori bread like naan. The chapati is much thinner and softer and allows to get more flavor of the greens in a bite. If chapatis are not available you could always use naan or pair this with some lovely jasmine rice in a bowl with a variety of these on the sides.
Print
Amaranth
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: Serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped amaranth
- 1 tsp chopped green chilies or jalapenos
- 1 to 2 Tbsp smashed and roughly chopped garlic
- salt to taste
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large non stick pan
- Mix the chopped leaves, green chilies and garlic together
- When the oil is hot and just below smoking add the leaves and cook moving them around stirring quickly till they wilt
- Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp water to de-glaze the pan and cook covered
- Remove lid and stir every minute to make sure the leaves don’t burn and sprinkle some more water if required
- Stop when leaves are cooked to a bite but dont cook till they change color and become pale
- Season with salt to taste and also a pinch of sugar if needed
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
