Kazimiera
08-22-2013, 07:07 PM
I ate these for supper tonight! :)
Madumbi (plural: madumbis)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3125/2660073733_cbb69fe0a4_o.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-shlqxCrGhtI/UV5XbmPQkqI/AAAAAAAAZr4/ZU31VHP0ozo/s640/20130403_131717.jpg
South Africa has its own exotic vegetable in the seasonal madumbi, a potato-like tuber that resembles a sweet potato. It has a rich earthy flavour and a starchy flesh. In South Africa, you might be able to find organic madumbi in at your local green grocer’s. Grown traditionally as a subsistence crop, the madumbi is nutritious, drought-resistant and easy to grow. Madumbi is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the Araceae family. Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated. Native to South India and Southeast Asia. It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable. It is a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Indian cultures and is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.
They can be fried for chips, used to make mash or cooked in their skin in the fire. A very tasty restaurant variation on the theme is to cook madumbi, mash them with butter and sprinkle them with roasted peanuts and top it all off with a drizzle of honey or even mix madumbi like you would as your standard mash potato with some dandelion pesto and walla you have a mashed fusion of delight …
http://americancooksafrica.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/img_39551.jpg
This member of the Arum Lily family orginates from India and has tubers that are cooked and eaten in a similar manner to potatoes. It has been under cultivation in Southeast Asia for about 10 000 years and is now grown widely in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. It has been cultivated in suitable parts of southern Africa for centuries and was possibly first introduced here by Portuguese traders before 1500. It grows best in moist heavy soils and plants take 5-10 months to reach maturity. The tubers contain mainly starch but also have good levels of vitamin C, phosphorus and iron.
Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indo-Malayan region, perhaps in eastern India and Bangladesh, and spread eastward into Southeast Asia, eastern Asia, and the Pacific islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, whence it spread to the Caribbean and Americas. It is known by many local names and often referred to as “elephant ears” when grown as an ornamental plant.
http://enchantingkerala.org/ayurveda/ayurvedic-medicinal-plants-photos/chempu-colocasia-esculenta.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvc-9zZ3Eok/UVgP1_AsceI/AAAAAAAAYnU/GeMXytXmmCw/s1600/20130331_092842.jpg
The corms, which have a light purple colour due to phenolic pigments, are roasted, baked or boiled, and the natural sugars give a sweet nutty flavour. The starch is easily digestible, and since the grains are fine and small it is often used for baby food. The leaves are a good source of vitamins A and C and contain more protein than the corms.
The common mole rat actually leaves the corms alone. So it is grown without being disturbed. This is a direct result of the fact that the corms of Colocasia esculenta are mildly toxic when raw, due to the presence of calcium oxalate and needle-like raphides, which are rendered inert through cooking. The toxin is minimized by cooking, especially with a pinch of baking soda. It can also be reduced by steeping the madumbi roots in cold water overnight. Calcium oxalate is highly insoluble and contributes to kidney stones. It has been recommended to consume milk or other calcium-rich foods together with it.
The mole rat has no such qualms with regard to other underground harvests such as carrots or potatoes. Hence, for a subsistence organic farmer, the madumbi is a real blessing, and thrives in the warm, wet conditions with a temperature range of between 10 ºC and 30ºC. But however madumbi is delicious and nutritious, and, certainly should be cultivated by any organic gardener living in the sub-tropics which is a suitable climate. It can be grown in paddy fields where water is abundant or in upland situations where water is supplied by rainfall or supplemental irrigation.
Source: http://foodilicious.smeak.com/madumbi/
Madumbi (plural: madumbis)
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3125/2660073733_cbb69fe0a4_o.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-shlqxCrGhtI/UV5XbmPQkqI/AAAAAAAAZr4/ZU31VHP0ozo/s640/20130403_131717.jpg
South Africa has its own exotic vegetable in the seasonal madumbi, a potato-like tuber that resembles a sweet potato. It has a rich earthy flavour and a starchy flesh. In South Africa, you might be able to find organic madumbi in at your local green grocer’s. Grown traditionally as a subsistence crop, the madumbi is nutritious, drought-resistant and easy to grow. Madumbi is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the Araceae family. Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated. Native to South India and Southeast Asia. It is a perennial, tropical plant primarily grown as a root vegetable for its edible starchy corm, and as a leaf vegetable. It is a food staple in African, Oceanic and South Indian cultures and is believed to have been one of the earliest cultivated plants.
They can be fried for chips, used to make mash or cooked in their skin in the fire. A very tasty restaurant variation on the theme is to cook madumbi, mash them with butter and sprinkle them with roasted peanuts and top it all off with a drizzle of honey or even mix madumbi like you would as your standard mash potato with some dandelion pesto and walla you have a mashed fusion of delight …
http://americancooksafrica.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/img_39551.jpg
This member of the Arum Lily family orginates from India and has tubers that are cooked and eaten in a similar manner to potatoes. It has been under cultivation in Southeast Asia for about 10 000 years and is now grown widely in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. It has been cultivated in suitable parts of southern Africa for centuries and was possibly first introduced here by Portuguese traders before 1500. It grows best in moist heavy soils and plants take 5-10 months to reach maturity. The tubers contain mainly starch but also have good levels of vitamin C, phosphorus and iron.
Colocasia is thought to have originated in the Indo-Malayan region, perhaps in eastern India and Bangladesh, and spread eastward into Southeast Asia, eastern Asia, and the Pacific islands; westward to Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean; and then southward and westward from there into East Africa and West Africa, whence it spread to the Caribbean and Americas. It is known by many local names and often referred to as “elephant ears” when grown as an ornamental plant.
http://enchantingkerala.org/ayurveda/ayurvedic-medicinal-plants-photos/chempu-colocasia-esculenta.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvc-9zZ3Eok/UVgP1_AsceI/AAAAAAAAYnU/GeMXytXmmCw/s1600/20130331_092842.jpg
The corms, which have a light purple colour due to phenolic pigments, are roasted, baked or boiled, and the natural sugars give a sweet nutty flavour. The starch is easily digestible, and since the grains are fine and small it is often used for baby food. The leaves are a good source of vitamins A and C and contain more protein than the corms.
The common mole rat actually leaves the corms alone. So it is grown without being disturbed. This is a direct result of the fact that the corms of Colocasia esculenta are mildly toxic when raw, due to the presence of calcium oxalate and needle-like raphides, which are rendered inert through cooking. The toxin is minimized by cooking, especially with a pinch of baking soda. It can also be reduced by steeping the madumbi roots in cold water overnight. Calcium oxalate is highly insoluble and contributes to kidney stones. It has been recommended to consume milk or other calcium-rich foods together with it.
The mole rat has no such qualms with regard to other underground harvests such as carrots or potatoes. Hence, for a subsistence organic farmer, the madumbi is a real blessing, and thrives in the warm, wet conditions with a temperature range of between 10 ºC and 30ºC. But however madumbi is delicious and nutritious, and, certainly should be cultivated by any organic gardener living in the sub-tropics which is a suitable climate. It can be grown in paddy fields where water is abundant or in upland situations where water is supplied by rainfall or supplemental irrigation.
Source: http://foodilicious.smeak.com/madumbi/