Spicy Collard Nuggets (Vegan + Gluten Free)

Spicy Collard Nuggets on a collard leaf with lime tea.

Collard greens do not grow well in the hot climate of the Kerala coast. However, in the cooler mountain districts of Wayanad and Idukki, it is an entirely different story. When we purchased our land in Wayanad around 8 years ago, we used to visit every week to supervise the construction work of our home. We were surprised to see beautiful plants with long stems sporting cabbage-like leaves growing in many households in the neighborhood. On asking, we came to know that the plants are locally called ilacruse and live for up to two years. The tender leaves can be harvested every fortnight to make stir-fry or curries. Soon after we moved to our new home, we planted a few ilacruse / collard greens in our garden. To our pleasant surprise, the plants grew robustly and yielded plenty of crisp, delicious leaves for me to cook several beautiful dishes.

Collard Greens in our vegetable garden.

The collards did well in all sorts of weather and are relatively pest free. They grew exceedingly well when fed on farmyard manure and leaf mold with frequent watering. The fresh and tender leaves could be used in place of cabbage leaves anytime, saving a trip to the market. This low fat vegetable is a veritable source of vitamins C, K and A to boost one’s immune system and manganese to fight against cancer. Collards are reputed to have cholesterol lowering abilities. Today, I made some spicy, deep-fried collard nuggets which turned out so good that I must share the recipe with you. I am sure you will enjoy it!

Spicy Collard Nuggets with Lime Tea

Print Recipe

Spicy Collard Nuggets Yum

Scrumptious, deep-fried, spicy collard greens nuggets. A delicious teatime snack.

Prep Time

45 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Passive Time

45 minutes

Servings

servings

Ingredients

• 200 gm tender collard greens
• 200 gm raw rice
• 200 gm chana dal (split chickpea lentils) or tor dal (split pigeon pea lentils)
• 15 gm dry hot red chilies
• 100 gm onion (peeled)
• 1 gm asafoetida powder
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• 15 gm powdered salt
• 1000 ml cooking oil to deep fry

Prep Time 45 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Passive Time 45 minutes Servings servings Ingredients 200 gm tender collard greens 200 gm raw rice 200 gm chana dal (split chickpea lentils) or tor dal (split pigeon pea lentils) 15 gm dry hot red chilies 100 gm onion (peeled) 1 gm asafoetida powder 2 sprigs curry leaves 15 gm powdered salt 1000 ml cooking oil to deep fry

Instructions

To prepare:

1. Soak the rice and the lentils together in water for 45 minutes
2. Chop the onion roughly to pieces.
3. Put the soaked rice and lentils, the onion and the dry chilies into your food processor.
4. Pull the curry leaves off their sprigs and throw them in.
5. Grind to coarse paste without adding any water.
6. Transfer to a mixing bowl and tip in the asafoetida powder and the powdered salt.
7. Chop the collard greens (including the tender stems) to fine slivers and chuck them in.
8. Mix thoroughly with your fingers.

To deep-fry:

1. Set a wok or deep frying pan on high heat. Pour in the cooking oil.
2. As soon as the oil is hot (it should not smoke), make gooseberry sized balls with your fingers, press slightly to shape them like patties and gently slip them in. Take care not to overcrowd the wok/pan.
3. Lower the heat to medium. The patties which had sunk to the bottom on entering the hot oil, soon start to rise to the surface as soon as they are hot inside.
4. Stir them gently to fry both sides evenly. Continue to fry them for 6 to 7 minutes till the nuggets feel crisp on the outside and are reddish brown in color.
5. Lift them out and drain off the excess oil. Fry the remaining nuggets in 2 more batches. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

1. Curd lovers, try pouring salted curd or yogurt over a bowl of hot nuggets as soon as they are lifted out of the oil. Let soak for an hour, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and enjoy!
2. Sambar lovers, try pouring piping hot sambar over a bowl of hot nuggets. Carve out scoops of sambar dripping nuggets with your spoon and enjoy!