Jungli Food

Ferns have been around for a while. As non-flowering plants, they predate pretty much all of the planet’s other life forms. They are also abundant: 20,000 species distributed across almost every corner of the world.  Few though are edible, and even the edible ones come with health warnings. Some can be carcinogenic; some, if not cooked properly, can prevent your body from absorbing Vitamin B. And yet they are much sought after because the ones that are good to eat tend to be really very good.

There are ferns growing everywhere in Sakleshpur, as you might expect in an area with plenty of jungle and even more rain. Ferns on hillsides, ferns by rivers, ferns in trees. So one day the boys and I went on a fern hunt. In half an hour we had found 15 different types of fern. But which is which? 

Ferns are extremely difficult to identify. At first glance they seem to all look the same. As you look closer you realise that leaves from the same clump (presumably the same plant) can be very different, even allowing for different ages and stages of development. After days spent comparing this leaf with that leaf, this plant with that plant, fern fronds and tendrils were soon twining their way into my dreams.

People here don’t eat any type of fern (‘our cows do’, one neighbour told me helpfully) so I turned to friends in the know, and to Mr Google. After a lot of whatsapping, zooming into photos and visits to various fern patches we finally concuded that we do indeed have the most widely eaten fern growing here, Diplazium esculentum or the ‘vegetable fern’. 

Confusingly this seems to be the same one that is often known in the North East as ‘fiddlehead fern’ (in English that is; locally it goes by many names including dheki and ningro).  In fact, as I found out, most ferns have fiddle heads, the tightly scrolled leaf which resembles a violin (or fiddle) head. In North America ‘fiddlehead fern’ normally refer to the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris).  The fiddle heads of this highly prized fern poke their way up from the ground perfectly formed.

As far as I can see this fern isn’t found in India.

The only other two edible forms of fern I’m aware of in India are the maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris) and the wonderfully named adder’s tongue fern (Ophioglossum reticulatum). We thought we had found maidenhair but after further investigation I’m not so sure. Confusingly, there seems to be some variation in leaf shape even among leaves of the same plant. Where’s a botanist when you need one, hey? At any rate maidenhair seems to be more important as a medicine;  as a food source, it’s limited to flavouring and garnishing.

Adder’s tongue fern is again something of a delicacy and quite distinctive looking. I read somewhere it grows only in the wet season. We are still, in late November, being bitten by leeches because the rains have gone on so long this year, but no sign of adder’s tongue so perhaps we will have to wait until next monsoon, if indeed it does grow here.

In the meantime we are enjoying vegetable fern cooked up North Eastern style.

UPDATE January 2020:
One of our English Workawayers and fellow forager Laurie recently introduced us to the delights of bracken or eagle fern (Pteridium aquilinium) which grows in as much abundance here as in England. Laurie’s recipe was as follows:
Collect as many of the eagle claws as you can
Boil them for ten minutes or so
Drain and put into cold (iced if you have it) water for a minute
Then stir fry with a good amount of peanuts, sprouts, any other seeds and nuts you have to hand and any spices you fancy
Bracken does come with some health warnings and is probably best not consumed too often or in large quantities.