Malabar spinach is a leafy green in the tropics that grows all year round, and its vibrant purple seeds can even be used for hair dye. In this episode, we’ll talk to a Texan woman on how she dyed her daughter’s hair purple with the seeds, a plant researcher in Washington DC on how it is a great alternative food source, and a rooftop gardener in Taipei on how she uses it as a spinach substitute. 

In this episode of Climate Cuisine, Clarissa chats with:

• Stephanie Fredrickson, a Texas-based member of the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Gardener Facebook group

• Mamatha Hanumappa, a plant researcher at the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C.

• Kate Nicholson, a New Zealand transplant in Taiwan who grows a garden on her rooftop

Episode highlights:

What is Malabar Spinach?

• A tropical perennial with thick, shiny leaves and vibrant berries, malabar spinach has a texture reminiscent of okra. It also has vibrant, dark berries that don’t have much flavor on their own.

• Stephanie shares the various experiments she’s performed with malabar spinach, from using the berries as custard thickener to even using them as temporary hair dye.

• She also talks about her experience growing malabar spinach in the fluctuating, unpredictable weather of her area in Texas, U.S.

Adapting Malabar Spinach to a New Environment

• Mamatha first encountered malabar spinach in India, where she is from and where malabar spinach is commonly found. Now based in Washington D.C. in the U.S., Mamatha is part of a team testing to see how well this plant adapts both to the climate and to the community there.

• Mamatha names some of the benefits of growing malabar spinach: heat-tolerance, drought-tolerance, and flood-tolerance. It grows well in hot weather—perfect for farmers in D.C. to grow between cooler-season crops. Moreover, it does not need to be reseeded every year.

• Given the rising temperatures in D.C., Mamatha’s work focuses on researching diverse plants that can adapt well to these changes, yet still provide a nutritious food source.

From Daal to Fritters: Ways to Cook with Malabar Spinach

• Clarissa shares her personal approaches to cooking malabar spinach, which usually involve throwing it in a curry or roasting it with salt.

• Mamatha shares that back in the south of India, her mother used to make daal curry with malabar spinach. In her own home in D.C., Mamatha enjoys sauteeing the spinach with onions, garlic, and spices.

• The spinach can also be made into a fritter, coated in a batter of chickpea flour, rice flour, turmeric, and chili powder before being deep-fried until brown.

The Nutritious Value

• Although kale is pushed as the leafy green superfood, malabar spinach has twice as much vitamin A. It is also rich in vitamin C, iron, calcium, and potassium. 

• There may not be much information on the nutrition content in the mucilage of malabar spinach, but going by articles on the nutrition content of mucilage in okra, one can draw a conclusion that the former has health benefits as well. 

Other Perennial Greens to Diversify Our Palates

• In Taiwan where malabar spinach grows like a weed in the summer, Kate shares how she maintains the perennial in her rooftop garden, among other leafy greens.

• Of course, malabar spinach is not the only perennial out there. Clarissa describes some other ones, such as Okinawa spinach and New Zealand spinach. 

• From New Zealand herself, Kate speaks more about the latter spinach. She shares that it grows wild along coastlines in New Zealand and, in her opinion, is more palatable than malabar spinach.

Reevaluating Sustainability

• Clarissa reminds us that “sustainability” is not just about eating more vegetables and less meat. Rather, it’s about shifting our reliance on the industrial food system to what can be grown easily in our climates.