Malabar spinach or baselle is also popular in the kitchen as a vegetable, because its edible leaves semi-succulent and mucilaginous have a sweet and pleasant flavor. They are rich in vitamins A and C, as well as iron and calcium and are distinguished by their very high water content.
Native to humid climates and hot, Malabar spinach prefers temperatures above 26°C:
we therefore wait for the days and nights to warm up sustainably before installing it outside in the end of spring!
On the coast of Malabar en India, it easily reaches 10 m in height. In Quebec, its size is more modest:
when planted in the sunniest, most sunny place hot and the most protégé from the garden, it will grow between 1,5 to 3 m in one summer.
Its growth is significantly higher in a moist and fertile soil, rich in organic matter and at neutral pH.
The baselle is a short day plant which flowers from November to February. As indoor growing conditions do not facilitate flowering in northern regions during winter, we therefore opt for a nitrogen fertilization which will promote foliage growth.
Malabar spinach in cooking
Initially tender, the leaves become tough aging. Also, we harvest the young foliage and we prepare it like spinach:
- cooked, in soups, stir-fries and curries, or steamed, as a side vegetable;
- raw, alone or added to other salad greens where their taste, both zesty et pepper, as well as their texture juicy and crunchy, delight gourmets.
- Au Sri Lanka, baselle is very popular in curries, especially dhal.
- To Philippines, its leaves are one of the basic ingredients of the utan, a vegetable dish served over rice.
- Le Basal gassi is a specialty of mangalore cuisine where baselle and coconut come together.
- It is found abundantly in the Bengali cuisine in vegetable dishes, prepared with red pumpkin or even with shrimp.
- En China, it is incorporated into vegetable stir-fries and soups.
- Au Vietnam , a soup called spinach is composed of Malabar spinach leaves, shrimp, crab meat, loofah and jute.
- En Africa, the mucilaginous and fragrant stems are prized for their thickening properties.
