Pui Shaak

Pui shaak or basale or Mangalore suppu. This is an absolutely beautiful vegetable and I got introduced to it only after I came  to Bangalore. It looks absolutely beautiful and its dark green hue convinces  you that it will provide a lot of iron and vitamins. 

And for cooking, the adage goes, the less the better!  To get it perfect, traditional style (learnt from Shafigeh):

First, cut the pui shaak into approximately 1″ squares or a little smaller. Don’t cut it very fine because it has a little glue and becomes a bit sticky. 

Collect the material:

Mustard and dry red chillies. Many people use only these two ingredients. 

1. I do a variation. In the chhaunk, I put mustard and dry red chillies broken into half. I also add garlic pods, whole or  sliced lengthwise, and 1 chopped green chilli. And to make it really nice, I add a little bit of til. 
2. You heat the oil (has to be gingelly oil), put mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then you add the rest of the ingredients (til, garlic, chillies), and when the colour of the red chilli is perfectly red and it looks really beautiful, add the pui shaak. 
3. The pui shaak shouldn’t be cooked for long. So keep the flame high as you would do in a Chinese wok and put  very little salt because green leaves already have some of their own salt. If you like your vegetables sour, then you can add a little bit of amchur. If you like it a little spicy, add some red chilli flakes.
4. Toss it and just when the shaak is bright green but is not yet oozing water, take off the gas and transfer to a glass bowl. If your glassware is clear, it looks  absolutely beautiful.
5. Try to make it just before eating, but if you need to heat it later, don’t cover the dish while storing (the leaves may lose colour). Microwave for a minute just before serving.