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Wave the green flag to health
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There’s more to greens than meets the eye We discuss the intricacies of buying, cooking and retaining their nutritive value
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EAT THEM DAILY Make greens a regular item on the table
“Keeraiiii…” the street vendor’s voice wakes you with a jolt. The word keerai (greens) is a wake-up call in more ways than one. We know leaves are good for us. We have enough information about them cluttering our health database. But do we harvest all their benefits? Mallika Badrinath, the cooking and nutrition diva, removes the dirt from the greens to help you take a clear-eyed look at them.
Is there a trick to buying keerai?
MB: Obviously it should be fresh. If you can, find out where it’s grown. A regular keerai eater caught a stomach bug and after the tests the gastro suspected it had something to do with the leaves he ate for health. The patient discovered that his keerai from the customary vendor came from a farm watered by a sewage drain. So, be careful!
What is all this “hoo-haa” about edible greens?
MB: Haven’t we heard their nutritional value is 20 times more than in other veggies? Even if the decimal points went wrong in the records, keerai is a valuable source of nutrients. Keerai is rich in iron, calcium, vitamin A, anti-oxidants and veg proteins. Some leaves are believed to keep blood sugar levels low. Cattle live on grass and leaves. They aren’t often sick, are they?
Cooking turns keerai from bright green to a dung brown. How do I retain the brightness?
MB: Steaming can leave a grey mess. Add a piece of ginger, a shot of lemon juice or a pinch of sugar to it. Keep the heat to medium and don’t close it immediately. Allow the enzymes to react with air before slapping down the lid. Don’t add salt in the beginning. It evaporates the moisture. Fry for a short period, switch off and let it cook in the heat. Add coconut or green gram (payatham paruppu) to absorb the water. Drink the extra water, if any. It’s surprisingly tasty.
Er, um, can we eat keerai at night?
MB: People ask me this all the time. Keerai is fibre food, gets digested easily and eases the stomach. Leaves are absorbed because they are naturally alkaline and blood is alkaline. The argument is, a lot of nutrients are flushed out. I look at it this way. Fat intake takes 72 hours to get absorbed. It deposits itself where the body is weak. If the fat and toxins are flushed out with fibre, should you complain?
How do I make greens attractive to kids?
MB: They call it cattle food, right? (Laughs). The best thing to do is to add spinach to their favourite dishes. Finely chopped spinach could go into aappam, dosa, puri, chappati and once in a while as pakodi. Saute leaves, grind and add to chutneys and cutlets. Spread green chutneys in sandwiches and burgers. Kids learn to expect “tiffin” to be speckled with green. If you mix palak/pudina/mulaikeerai/methi, grated onions, wheat flour and besan, knead it into soft dough and make rotis, why would a kid push the plate away?
Any other tip?
MB: Rotate the green dishes. Make thogayal (thick chutney) with mint, curry leaves or coriander. Curry leaves can be washed, dried and powdered and added to almost all the salty dishes. A teaspoon of it is concentrated iron. Have tulsi, mint or karpooravalli tea. Green tea is getting a lot of buzz now. It’s supposed to lower cholesterol and blood sugar and kill viruses.
Cutting and washing are painful jobs.
MB: I don’t agree. For varieties like mini methi, just snip off the root with a pair of scissors and wash. For larger leaves, well, remove them while watching TV. Give it to anyone who watches the box the longest.
Do not wash after cutting. When you cut, the cells are damaged. Water-soluble vitamins drain away with the water. Pluck the leaves, put them in a large vessel of water, rinse quickly and drain in a colander. Spread it on a cloth if you need it dry (for poriyal). The cooking time is next to nothing, so don’t complain!
Which ones should I graze (oops!) eat more often?
MB: I’d put agathi keerai (Sesbania grandiflora) on top of the list for its calcium and iron content. Next would be drumstick leaves. Do wash, chop and add it to adai. Have you tried vellarai keerai (watercress)? Modaikathaan, recommended for arthritis? Try all that you see on the pushcart (except banana leaves?).
Eat keerai. Regularly. At least 100 grams a day. Make it a regular “item” on the table. Is there anything as good as a pepper-curry-leaves rasam for a pick-upper?
GEETA PADMANABHAN
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