What is common with stinging nettles and fiddlehead ferns ? They show up at the same time in the Farmers market. Never seen in supermarkets. Here are the two with a dab of light, fragrant broth. Enjoy!
Later in a trip to India I accidentally (while browsing a flight magazine in a domestic flight) learned that a variation of this stinging nettle, called kandali ka saag (कंडाली का साग), is a staple in pahadi cuisine of Uttarakhand. See the notes for pointers to some Indian treatment of the stinging nettles.
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Ingredients
- 6 oz Stinging nettles
- 8 oz fiddlehead ferns, washed lightly
- Aromatics: 1/4 onion diced + 3 crushed pods of garlic + 3 tbsps of diced lemongrass
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsps cooking oil
- Seasoning: salt
- Garnish: 6-8 large Thai basil leaves
Method
Stinging nettles will sting– to avoid that I blanched that in about 3/4 cups water in the frying pan till all the water was cooked off. Rinse the pan. Heat a 1 tbsp cooking oil and saute the fiddlehead ferns for 4-5 minutes till tender. If your pan is big enough, push the ferns to the edges of the pan and heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in the center. Saute the aromatics till fragrant. Mix the ferns and nettles. Season with salt. Add the coconut milk. Let cook for few minutes. Turn off the heat and add the chiffonaded Thai basil.
Gently heat the sesame oil in a frying pan with the crushed garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Add the ferns, salt and toss till mixed. Be careful with the salt since your sauce would be salted as well. Add the Ponzu soy sauce and rapidly mix till the ferns are well dressed. Turn off heat and serve warm.
Notes, hints, tips:
- The stinging nettles will sting, as the name suggests. So avoid touching them by bare hands- you could use a pair of tongs to handle before cooking. Boiling in water removes the sting. Another way is to toast on open flame (a bunch of leaves at a time, using tongs).
- The lemongrass-coconut broth is great for dunking bread or goes will served with grains.
- See https://purba.blog/2018/05/20/fiddlehead-ferns/ for an alternative treatment of the ferns.
My discovery of kandali ka saag (कंडाली का साग) in an Indigo flight. Later with a quick browse I find some interesting recipes. Traditional soupy subzi (by The Valley Cook) and a modern egg subzi (by Cook and Live with Confidence).
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