You may have never heard of red Malabar spinach or basella alba ‘rubra’, but this beautiful multi-coloured, leafy vine is part of some very enticing meals in Bengali, South Indian, Gujarati, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian and Vietnamese cuisines, as its leaves, stems and berries are edible.

Also known as Ceylon spinach, Vine spinach and pui saag, the vine is native to Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent.

Malabar spinach is a tropical, perennial vine, provided you are blessed with frost-free winters, like the ones in Karachi. It is a hardy plant which requires minimal care. This easy-to-grow, invasive vine quickly spreads around and is highly recommendable for growing segregated from other plants. It is better to install a trellis or drop a few hanging ropes down so that this climbing vine can find its way up without being a cause of concern for neighbouring plants.

There are two distinct types of Malabar spinach based on the colour of the stem. The vine with green stems is known as basella alba or the green Malabar spinach, and the one with purplish red to maroon stems is known as the red Malabar spinach.

Red Malabar spinach is not actually a spinach but is easily the most beautiful and nutritious vining edible green that you can grow in your garden

This semi-succulent, soft-stemmed vine is so colourful that even if it were not edible, it would qualify as an ornamental, decorative filler plant for your home. The red Malabar spinach vine, which has purplish maroon stems and leaves in shades of green, pink, purple and yellow — depending upon climate and plant maturity — has small white flowers with a streak of purple running across the petals.

The berries which are green when raw, become violet and black as they ripen. The flesh and fluid of the pulpy berries of the red Malabar spinach were traditionally used as a dye in China, and are still used as an alternative to red food colour.

The young, nutritious leaves of Malabar spinach are eaten raw in salads. Generally, within two months of germination, you can make the first harvest. The leaves should be harvested while they are still young, as mature leaves add a slimy texture to the meal.

One of the traditional ways to grow the Malabar spinach vine is from seeds. For that, the pulp or the flesh of the berry is removed. The seed inside is washed before sowing. Do not forget to wear a plastic glove or protective covering while removing the seed from the berry, as the pulp may leave a red stain on your fingers which will stay with you for a few washes.

The other method is the propagation of stem cuttings. Simply inserting a stem cutting upright into the soil, around three inches in depth, would do just fine, no mess. This is the reason why I always prefer grafted stems over sowing seeds when it comes to growing red Malabar spinach.

Even better than simple propagation by inserting a cutting in soil, is to place a cutting bent into a circle and placed in the pot partially covered with soil. The roots are likely to erupt from the leaf nodes and the plant grown in this manner tends to be much stronger and firm.

The Malabar spinach vine requires ample, well-drained watering. It thrives better in moist soil, warm temperatures and humid conditions. The plant needs a few hours of direct sunlight from morning till at least afternoon.

The growth of Malabar spinach is remarkable with rainwater, which acts like a fertiliser for the vine as well. Like all leafy plants, the Malabar spinach also requires a continuous supply of nitrogen-rich fertiliser.

There is no need to add phosphorus and potassium as fertilisers. To account for organic sources of nitrogen supply, one may opt for vermicompost, decomposed chicken manure, decomposed cow dung manure, fish meal or compost tea, which can be developed at home or purchased from the gardening stores.

Although I have never encountered any pest attacks on my red Malabar spinach vine in the last few years, I would still fortnightly spray it with organic pesticide, such as neem oil, to ward off any unwanted critters spoiling the leaves.

Last but not the least, Malabar spinach, apart from its name, is not at all related to spinach.

Please send your queries and emails to kalishahid@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardening

Published in Dawn, EOS, September 4th, 2022