John Wright
LATIN NAME
Atriplex prostrate
SEASONALITY
Late spring–summer
HABITAT
Found throughout the British Isles, on waste ground, in gardens and on the coast
MORE RECIPES
Henakopita with garam masala and eggs; Spinach, egg and potato curry
This leaf is certainly not something you can pick up from the greengrocers, though you can very often find it in your veg garden, even if you haven’t planted it. ‘Aw-rak’ (as I pronounce it) is a weed. Not that it is confined to domestic situations – it can be found on waste ground, along roadsides and on the upper seashore too. It is extremely common as far north as Sheffield, beyond which it becomes increasingly confined to the coast.
It is a fairly easy plant to recognise with its distinctly triangular leaves that sport a coarsely saw-toothed edge. The young leaves are covered in fine, white granules just like those of fat hen. It is a plant often mistaken for the relatively rare and equally edible Good King Henry, but this has longer triangular leaves.
Over all, members of the goosefoot family, to which spear-leaved orache belongs, are notoriously difficult to identify. Since no goosefoot to my knowledge is actually poisonous there will be no problem as long as you are sure that it is, indeed, of the goosefoot clan. The nearest dangerous look-alike is datura, a member of the treacherous nightshade family. Unfortunately, it too has a fondness for vegetable plots – but is easily distinguished by its sharply lobed leaves.
Although available from May to October, late spring and early summer is the best time to pick the leaves of spear-leaved orache; beyond this the plant runs to seed and only the sparse side leaves are available. If you find a very young plant you can eat everything but the roots. The leaves are fairly fleshy and the texture and flavour very like that of spinach.
These spicy treats can also be made with fat hen, chard or good old spinach, of course. Serves 4 as a side dish
1 small onion, halved and finely sliced
1 small leek, trimmed and finely sliced
1 small carrot, peeled, halved lengthways and finely sliced
100g spear-leaved orache, stems removed, shredded
1 garlic clove, crushed or finely grated
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp nigella (kalonji/black onion) seeds
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp ground cumin
140g chickpea (gram) flour
Vegetable oil (refined rapeseed oil), for frying
Sea salt
Put the onion, leek, carrot, orache and garlic into a bowl and mix well, breaking up the half-rings of onion and leek with your hands.
Toast the fennel and nigella seeds in a dry frying pan for a few minutes, until fragrant, then add to the veg, along with the other spices. Add a generous pinch of salt and mix well.
Scatter the flour over the spicy veg and toss to coat well, then add 125ml cold water and work it in so all the veg are coated in batter.
Heat a 2–3cm depth of oil in a deep, heavy-based pan until it reaches about 160°C. If you don’t have a cook’s thermometer, cook one bhaji to test the temperature of the oil: drop a dessertspoonful of the mixture into the hot oil. It should take around 3 minutes, turning once or twice, for the bhaji to turn a deep golden brown. Remove and check that the batter is cooked through to the middle. Drain on kitchen paper. This test-bhaji will also tell you if you have enough salt in the mix.
Cook the remaining mixture, in small batches, as above; you should be able to make about 16 bhajis from the mix. Once cooked, drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you cook the rest.
Serve the bhajis hot, with raita or other yoghurty dip.