What are Pea shoots
Pea shoots are a seasonal treat available a few weeks into spring. They are a few weeks old tender pea vines that are lush green and are barely bearing any fruit. They are treated as a delicacy in asian cuisine and are also getting popular in the united kingdom. They taste almost like peas just not as sweet and hence make for a lovely kadhai style stir fry with garlic that we did with amaranth. We also used the spindly vines cooked gently over some butter in our gobi matar.
These are still not that popular at the super market kind of grocery stores. The best can be found at your local farmers market as well sometimes in asian grocery stores.
Our Kadhai Stir Fry
We start out by selecting a big pan and chopping our pea shoots making sure not to include stems if they are hard. If the stems are tender you can also chop them finely and use them.
We then crush and chop a lot of garlic and mix it in with the pea shoots just like our amaranth recipe. We do this to avoic burning the garlic. You can add some chopped green chilies or jalapenos if you would like some heat. Then we add some oil to the pan and when really hot add our shoots and cook them by moving them around and wilting them. We then add a sprinkling of water and cook them covered in the steam making sure not to burn them by stirring every once in a while. Finish it with some salt.
Serve these with some chapati or top them on some multigrain crackers. These are quick to make and better the produce the better they taste. Hence watch out for the seasons best produce to buy your pea shoots and you have a treat on your hands.
Pea Shoots
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: serves 2
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped pea shoot leaves and tender portions of stem
- 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
