Niuro is the tightly coiled new shoot of a wild fern, and it is one of the few vegetables in this pantry that nobody plants. It comes up along stream banks, forest edges and damp shaded ground from March onwards, and gathering it is a household outing rather than a shopping trip: children sent into the jungle at the weekend, back with a bundle by the afternoon. Of the several edible kinds, kali niuro is the one people want, longer and darker than the rest, and the whole appeal is textural, a green crunch that holds up to heat where most wild greens collapse. It is fiercely seasonal and perishable enough that it has to be cooked within a day or two of picking, which is why it stays a spring dish and never becomes an everyday one. In Sikkim the same fern is cooked down with soft chhurpi instead, tempered with panch phoron, and that version is worth knowing if you can get the cheese.
INGREDIENTS
- 400 g fiddlehead ferns (brown papery husks rubbed off)
- 3 tbsp mustard oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp coriander seeds (lightly crushed)
- 2 dried red chillies
- 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 cm ginger (finely chopped)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns (ground)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 green chilli (slit)
METHOD
- Rub the brown papery husks off the fiddleheads and wash them in several changes of cold water until no grit remains.
- Boil them in plenty of salted water for 2 minutes, then drain and discard the water. This step is not optional.
- Heat the mustard oil in a pan until it smokes, take it off the heat briefly, then return it to a medium heat and add the cumin, coriander seeds and dried chillies. They should darken within 20 seconds.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute, until the raw edge has gone.
- Add the drained fiddleheads, the turmeric, salt and green chilli. Toss to coat and cook uncovered over a high heat for 5 to 6 minutes, moving them often.
- Stir the ground peppercorns through and take the pan off the heat while the coils still have some resistance. Serve with rice or dhido.