Monday 5 January 2015

Fast, fresh and wholesome: Kale mallung


I discovered kale fairly recently. Only a year or so ago. It is not something that is available where I live, so I only sampled it when I was on a trip overseas. I fell in love with it and brought some back home with me. Yes, I flew back on a plane with a bunch of kale. That is how I am. 

I wanted to cook the greens in a simple way that preserved all its superfood nutrients. So I made a mallung. This is a SriLankan style of stir frying with vegetables that includes freshly grated coconut and a few whole spices. I have always liked mallungs but this is not an authentic version. I have simply followed the idea of a mallung and created something that is now a firm favourite with my family.

I serve the mallung with plain rice and a simple curry.

Kale Mallung
Serves 4

large bunch of curly kale (about 300g)
1 tablespoon oil
1 red onion, sliced into half moons
2 curry leaves
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 green chillies slit lengthwise
3 teaspoons dried fish (in flakes)
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 cup grated coconut (use fresh or frozen)
salt
juice of 1 lime

Wash and dry the kale. Finely shred it.

Heat the oil in a large wok. When nearly smoking, add the onions and cook for a few minutes. Throw in the curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds. When they crackle and pop, add the chillies and fish flakes. Stir in the turmeric and the coconut. Give it a quick stir and add the kale, salt to taste and cover for a minute. This allows the steam to cook the greens. Uncover, mix in the lime juice and you are ready to serve. 

3 comments:

Angie's Recipes said...

Kale is for sure my favourite winter vegetable. I love all the spices that you have added in there. It must be very delicious.

Unknown said...

Haha yes, I've flown with food too. Declaring it always gave me some strange looks but it was worth it! I adore kale as well and this combination of spices sounds amazing!

Unknown said...

I discovered kale just recently too and just love finding new recipes for it! This is just a great addition!!