This Wild Veggie Boosts Immunity During Changing Weather - How To Make It Edible

Shevla aka the dragon stalk yalm, is a succulent monsoon vegetable only available for a few weeks each year. Its available in the Konkan region after the first monsoon spell.

'It's beautiful appearance sadly fades away once cooked, although it retains its earthy flavour profile similar to mushrooms," Chef Thomas Zacharias (@cheftzac) said. The CKP community in Maharashtra pairs it tiny shrimp to sizzle your tastebuds with an awesome bhaji, he mentioned.

The tribal communities of Koknis, who mainly reside in Maharashtra, and Karnataka, consider eating this sacred vegetable to bolster their immunity as the season shifts from summer to monsoon. Known as Jungli Suran in Hindi, this earthy vegetable has a single stalk with stems and a hollow pod or bud inside. The spadix's colour indicates the vegetable's maturity. Additionally, it is believed that a tribals can predict the arrival of the monsoon by observing its growth rate.

Can your cook shevla alone?

"What make this seasonal Indian veggie special is that it cannot be consumed raw because of the toxin oxalate in them. To make it safe for consumption, it needs to be cooked with a partner vegetable such as kakad, which incidentally grows closer to it," Zacharias said.

How to dish out shevla alongside kakad fruit?

Ingredients:

Kakad fruit (use twice the quantity of fruit for every cup of sliced shevla)
2 green chillies, chopped
1 heaped tbsp fresh coconut, grated
Fresh coriander, chopped, for garnish

Method:

Discard the lowest portion of the shevla stalk, where the ribbed bright yellow section starts, along with the tough outer leaves. Slice the remaining stalk thinly horizontally.

Cook the sliced shevla in water with kakad fruit for 20 to 30 minutes. Taste the water and discard it.

If your throat feels scratchy, boil the shevla again with extra fruit or a little tamarind, then discard the water.

In a hot skillet, stir-fry the green chillies and onion in oil until the onion begins to brown.

Add the cooked shevla, salt, and turmeric powder to the skillet.

Finish by adding garam masala, freshly grated coconut, and chopped coriander for garnish.