Amaranth Stir Fry

 Amaranth is a versatile plant that has been around for longer than us! It is an ancient seed grain and used like a cereal.  You can eat the leaves and stalks of the amaranth. My neighbour gave me some seeds that I randomly threw in the garden beds and now I have a few plants that I can harvest the leaves regularly from.  One of these plants has grown like Goliath - and is like a small tree!  I was able to harvest enough leaves to cook a dish for lunch for the family. I was reading that in the right conditions they can grow 5 to 8 feet - which was news to me as I have only seen them in the market bundled up in bunches of 10 - 20 plants, root and all, and about 6 to 8 inches long.

There are lots of varieties of Amaranthus - my own favourite is the one that dyes everything red once it is cooked. I used to love mixing it with the white rice and having a spectacular red rice meal.  The one that is growing in my garden is a green Amaranthus and there is no colour that comes out of the cooked leaves.  Nevertheless, it is tasty and very nutritious. There are a lot of uses for Amaranthus leaves - when they are young, you add them to salads and eat them raw, the older leaves are cooked in a stir fry, with dal or even pickled. They can be stuffed into chappaties or fried in an omelette too.

Asians, Africans, Europeans and South Americans cook the Amaranthus - in fact, it was originally cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas and spread all over the world from there.  The seeds are highly nutritious and they are gluten free.  They are rich in various proteins, micronutrients and anti oxidants along with manganese, magnesium, iron and phosphorus.

Ingredients:

4 cups of shredded Amaranth leaves and tender stems - wash the leaves and shred it finely

1/2 an onion chopped

1 green chilli

3 - 4 tablespoons of shredded/desiccated coconut, reserve a tablespoon for garnish.

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds

salt to taste

Method:

Wash the amaranth leaves and set aside in a colander to drip dry. 

Heat oil in a wok and add mustard seeds.  When the seeds splutter, add onions and sauté till they turn translucent.  

Add the green chilli and then all of the shredded leaves.  Keep sautéing and put a lid on the wok checking every now and again to make sure it doesn't burn.  

When the leaves are cooked - it should still retain a bit of crunch, add salt to taste and shredded/desiccated coconut.  Garnish with some more shredded/desiccated coconut.

Serve hot with rice and dal.

Tip: Use a chop stick or a fork to stir the leaves around and try not to use any water while cooking it. If you do need water, just sprinkle it.

My Goliath!