Some culinary notes regarding Indian food and dandelion greens

[tamago23]

1. Just because curry and garam masala are both used in Indian food does NOT mean you can substitute one for the other. If you're halfway through making saag paneer and realize that you're out of garam masala, adding curry instead will make your saag paneer taste like... saag paneer curry

Comments

[persephone82]

I've had dandelions from our weedy lawn, and greens from the store. The ones from the store were GIGANTIC, and I couldn't eat them for how bitter they were. I was expecting the weedy ones to be bitter too, but I really couldn't taste any bitterness at all. Not that I'm trying to discount your experience, just surprised.

[tamago23]

How were you preparing them? There's a number of ways that can mask or reduce the bitterness. Essentially it comes down to the fact that they have these compounds - sesquiterpenes - that cause the bitterness, and those compounds are found in the milky fluid that runs through the leaves (including baby leaves). While certain things (overcrowding, fighting for resources, extensive sun, age, drought) increase the bitterness contained in the sesquiterpenes, it still has a base level of bitterness to begin with, because that's just the nature of the compound.

Sesquiterpenes are water-soluble though, so they can be boiled away, or masked with fats (such as butter, bacon grease, etc).

[persephone82]

The insanely bitter ones from the store I sauteed. The not so bitter ones from the lawn I ate raw.

[misslynx]

On garam masala - no, curry powder is Not The Same. In a pinch, I would substitute a mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, coriander and pepper, or at least whichever of those you happen to have handy, since those are all found in it at least some of the time.

Now I want to make saag paneer too.

On dandelion greens - I remember really liking the little ones from our lawn, sauteed in butter, when I was a kid. But that does not necessarily mean they weren't at all bitter... I think I tend to like bitterness, at least in moderation. I enjoy rapini, drink espresso-based drinks without sugar (although if it's straight espresso, I may
put in at least a tiny bit of sugar), and prefer hot chocolate to have considerably more cocoa and less sugar than most people. So I'm probably weird. :-)

[tamago23]

In a pinch, I would substitute a mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, coriander and pepper, or at least whichever of those you happen to have handy, since those are all found in it at least some of the time.

Good call, I'll remember that for the future. And I do in fact have all four of those, since I have a very well-stocked spice/herb cabinet.

On dandelion greens - I remember really liking the little ones from our lawn, sauteed in butter, when I was a kid.

Sauteeing in butter (or bacon grease or what-have-you) is an effective way for reducing the bitterness because the fat coats the taste buds and reduces the bitter flavor. And there are a fair number of people who do find bitter to be pleasant, at least in moderation. ;)

[kettunainen]

I hope you didn't get the notion that young dandelion greens aren't bitter from me. I'm pretty sure I've always maintained that they were *less* bitter than the larger ones, but that they were still bitter.

Also, mine never grew!

[tamago23]

It's so weird! I planted thirty seeds over three planters (two seeds each in five holes in each planter, because apparently you're not supposed to crowd them) and only got six plants. o_O That is a DISMAL germination rate.

Oh well. Having experimented last night, I have to say they're not good plants for container gardening. The yield is too low and having to boil them significantly reduces the finished size even more; I harvested all the leaves off all six plants yesterday (the biggest leaves were in the 5"-6" range) and after boiling they didn't even make one adult-sized portion. Going with a thinly-sown mesclun mix will provide a lot more yield in a container than dandelion greens.

Nah, it's more just something I see all over message boards and such, the suggestion that baby dandelion greens aren't bitter, and if they're bitter that means you waited too long to pick them.

[saviolo]

If you're putting dandelion greens in a salad, you can offset the bitterness with a very sour or astringent dressing. One that works extremely well is lemon juice, tahini, some oil (usually flax seed or olive), parsley, and salt&pepper to taste. Keep it on the sour side of things with the lemon juice. A little drop of sesame oil (and I mean little) will be nice with this, too. Has a somewhat middle-eastern flavour to it.

-Dralen