Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) has been eaten in India for hundreds of years. I first came across the reference in Sir George Watt’s six volume ‘A Dictionary of Economic Products of India’ 1889-1896. In it he mentions that the seeds are eaten, having a nutty flavour, while the young leaves where used as a vegetable.
In this recipe, my friend Chris Holland from Wholeland, is going to be showing you how to make a spontaneous Himalyan Balsam seed curry using leftovers in his kitchen.
This recipe serves 2 adults and 1 nine year old child.
Step 1
Go out and forage for Himalayan Balsam seed. Harvest as much as you think you need for a curry.
The pods burst at the slightest touch, to the squeals of young children, who find this plant an amazing toy while out walking. Mind you, I find it fun to burst the pods and I’m 44!
Step 2
Depending on how dried the seeds are their colour will vary from a milky, soft white, right through to a dark black.
Chris and I have both found that you can eat the seed at any stage of their colouration. Try and remove as much of the green seed pod as you can. But don’t obsess over it, as you can see from the photo above, there is still quite a bit left in the seeds after Chris had cleaned them.
Step 3
Take 1 onion and slice it up.
Step 4
Now add a few glugs of olive oil.
Step 5
Add the onion and fry gently until translucent and soft.
Step 6
Take 1 swede and cut into small cubes about 1/2 inches square.
Step 7
Now this is where Chris “cheated”. You need to add some curry paste, and the best curry pastes I find are Pataks. Chris used the Balti curry paste for this recipe.
Step 8
Add 2 tablespoons of your chosen curry paste, and mix in and fry with the onion for 1 minute or so.
Step 9
Now add your Himalayan Balsam seed…
Step 10
… and stir in.
Step 11
Next mix in your cubed swede.
Step 12
Add hot water until it just covers the contents of your saucepan.
Step 13
Now slice up a couple of sticks of celery.
Step 14
Add the celery to your curry along with a small chunk of creamed coconut. The more creamed coconut you add, the thicker your curry will be.
Step 15
Take 1 or 2 tomatoes and chop.
Step 16
Thinly slice 1 red pepper, and then chop into small pieces.
Step 17
Add the pepper and tomato and simmer gently until the vegetables are tender. But cook for at least 15 minutes.
Step 18
Eat with white or brown basmati rice.
Aside
Chris’s son Mali looks on thinking his Dad is mad for eating such strange food. Especially as you won’t find Himalayan Balsam listed in any of the wild food books that are available.
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A great recipe but please remember that Himalayan Balsam is a non-native invasive species that is causing huge problems for our rivers and wetlands – by outcompeting native vegetation and leading to bank erosion in the winter when it dies back.
So please take huge care when collecting seeds not to make the problem worse, e.g. by collecting whole flower heads carefully into a bin bag and ‘popping’ the seeds out when you get home, and please please don’t encourage kids to burst them for fun!
That’s very true Emma, but eating them is one way to keep the population down. And yes I’m being serious. Next year when the new growth develops I’ll be experimenting with eating the leaves.
Short of spraying them, which I wouldn’t advise, there’s not much else available to keep their population from spreading. I say eat them.
This is a classic example of how we have removed ourselves from the landbase, where wild plant eating humans and animals kept things in balance, by grazing. Remove that connection and problems happen as you have described.
Also irrespective of whether kids (or adults) pop the seed pods, they eventually pop open on their own accord.
Am a countryside ranger. Many folk call us about Him. Balsalm and have often wondered whether there was a way to use it that went some way to helping to reduce the problem. So it’s nice to see this recipe.
When wild food collecting they say to leave a young replacement for the thing you are using, to perpetuate it in the wild. With this plant you can do the complete opposite and remove any others in the area , BEFORE seed time (and even flowering time), by pulling them up!
Now if someone can find a way of SAFELY cropping or using Japanese Knotweed then they might be onto a fortune, as this costs local authorites a fortune to remove. The mereest bit of Jap Knotweed will produce a new plant – so even strimming it doesn’t help. Beware – it is illegal to re-seed or re-plant these two species.
cheers for your efforts re wild food.
Callum, regarding leaving plants to regenerate rather than plant-strip the whole patch, this is indeed very true. I always advise that folk only take a small amount of plant matter away with them, always leaving some for other foragers, as well as to allow the plant to regrow. If need be, find somewhere else where the plant grows more prolifically.
I am blessed and cursed with about an acre of the stuff, so did some research into the possibility of making use. I was happy to discover that at least the seeds are edible, and found them rather pleasant, not to mention fun to pop – and I am 52. I love the idea of eating a problem. However, I would stay clear of the leaves, as they contain calcium oxalate. Forgetting about that little fact, I did taste a young leaf last year, only to find my mouth burn.
One of the things to bear in mind when pulling the plants up (which is very easy), is to do it on a sunny day and lay the plants somewhere where they don’t get in contact with the ground. They can very easily re-root from almost anywhere on their stem.
Judy: Thanks for pointing out the calcium oxalate in Himalayan Balsam. Ken Fern from Plants for a Future mentions that “It can be harmful raw but is destroyed by thoroughly cooking or drying the plant”
This plant still needs to be researched more and can be placed in the “exotic” category of wild edible plants.