Edible Weeds of New England| The native Sri Lankan mallum

I am always trying to research how best to incorporate leafy greens into our family’s diet. I am always on the hunt for menus that incorporate leafy greens and vegetables in large. Growing up in Sri Lanka my mom always made one or more dishes with leafy greens every single day, no matter how busy she was. She would spend hours chopping greens so fine to make Mallum or mix it in to curries. In my mind, I always go for that first, instead of smoothie.

Can I make a Mallum with edible weeds native to New England ? Can I pick grow backyard salads and pick my own leafy greens and mix and match them in a delicious Sri Lankan Mallum ? The thought always fascinated me much.

When we moved to the USA my husband and I went hunting for greens that would make good Mallum in supermarkets. It was always kale and collard greens that would make a good fit. We used to buy big bunches of kale and make Mallum with it. Monotony of it always would get to me. I associated, why it doesn’t taste as good as back as home, to the fact that they were always made with collard and kale, of cabbage family.

The Sri Lankan Mallum with coconut and backyard greens

The Sri Lankan mallum is the best and most delicious way of eating large amount of green vegetables, in my opinion. Not only because its closer to my heart and comes form popular Sri Lankan home cooking menus, it is aromatic, light, nutty, salty and savory stir-fried leafy greens that you will never get tired eating. Kale, Collard greens, parsley, cabbage, broccoli works wonderfully with the lightly seasoned grated coconut if you choose to make it. I gave out my printable recipe on how to make a mallum with broccoli in my post about how we, the Sri Lankan natives eat greens few months back.

Any leafy greens that are succulent or will become mushy on cooking isn’t going to be great in making Mallum. Neither is spinach because of the tendency to become sticky and gooey. Mallum made from hummingbird leaves, native mixed greens to Sri Lanka or Sessile Joyweed are among my favorites, when ever I visit Sri Lanka.

New England edible weeds in mallum

I am a lazier cook than my mom. However, Going in to my local spring dell farm or stony brook acres in the spring and summer to pick up a fresh picked bunches of greens, ans spending time finely hand slicing them ,mixing them with seasoned shredded coconut to make a mallum is one of my favorite spring and summertime chores. The freshness does matte, locally grown food tastes so much better than anything is shipped over long distances and more nutritious.

Going one step further in that, I started reading on to what edible native New England weeds can go in to mallum. A notion born out of curiosity, that has lead to a delicious outcome. I spent hours and hours reading into local edible weeds experts, on how to identify, pick and clean edible weeds. How to cook them. I finally made made a mallum with sorrel, wild spinach /lamb’s quarters, few sprigs of clover and young blackberry leaves and the results were absolutely delicious. I picked them from my own backyard, what used to be my vegetable patch, now overgrown with these native weeds.

Over the years, I used many edible New England plants in various dishes, but my favorites so far are pennyworts, sorrel, wild spinach /lamb’s quarters, and Dandelion greens. I always find them in my yard in springtime. If you would like to learn more about how to safely forage, pick clean and cook native plants, look up to your local library or join Facebook groups that talks about them. Making sure, to pick from places that don’t use chemicals, pesticides, herbicides and knowing your plant anatomy before foraging is really very important. I am glad now some of these native New England plants are available in farm stands and supermarkets.

Once you have your greens, how do you make Mallam?

It is easy. Choose your favorite green or a few of them. Wash and pick through them and slice them finely. Preferably by hand, without bruising them. Do not process them for too long or they will become a mush, and you will have a smoothie instead. Minimally handled is the best way to go.

Then get your scraped coconut. And add pinch of yellow curry powder salt and pepper to taste and good handful of chopped red onions and few slices of green chilies. I like my Mallum spicy, so I always add more than one green chili. But you can totally opt it out and use non spicy green peppers just to give a peppery hint without spiciness. Also, I like to use red onions or shallots here. Now mix them together until well incorporated.

Heat your skillet or wok hot and add the seasoned shredded coconut. Turn and cook for about 30 seconds. Add finely sliced greens. As soon as the greens start becoming wilted mix in with coconut. Do not worry if some leaves are raw, if the pan is hot, they will keep cooking. Mix well and turn the heat off. Keep mixing or turning gently for a minute or so and turn dark green and steam evaporates. Leave them little crunchy ! Add couple of tablespoon of lime juice. All done ! Transfer the mallum to a separate container.

Serving tips for Sri Lankan mallum

You can enjoy your mallum as is, or with bread and butter, in a lettuce wrap with your choice of meat or fish, in a rice bowl or make a toast by spreading some mallum on top of crusty bread and sprinkle some cheese on top and broiling it for few secs. Really the sky is the limit. It is a simple delight I always find extremely rewarding whenever I make it. I hope you will like it too. Please share your comments and variations in the comment section or via Facebook with me. I would love to try them out.