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Kashmiri Greens

Serves six

4 pounds braising greens
1 tbs. canola oil or olive oil
1/4 tsp. asafetida (as-a-feh-TEE-dah; a spice made from fennel resin that tastes like mild garlic after cooking. Store it in a very tightly sealed container.)
2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 large shallots, sliced
1/2 cup julienne strips peeled ginger
1 small dried red chili, broken in half
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Discard the touch stems from the greens. Chop the tenders and set aside, then roughly chop the leaves.

Heat the oil in a 4-quart pot over moderately high heat until it shimmers and add the asafetida and cumin seeds. Cook, stirring, until the spices are fragrant, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the shallots, ginger and chili, and cook, stirring, until the shallots are translucent, about three to four minutes. Add the stems of the greens and salt to taste, then cook, stirring, for one minute. Add the greens, and cook, tossing occasionally with tongs, until just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard the chili, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chilies, Dried

“When I call for a “small dried red chili,” I mean the cayenne type, about 2 inches long. Avoid the tiny Thai or bird chilies; they are too fiery. I also used dried pasilla de Oaxaca chilies, familiar to devotees of Mexican and American Southwest cooking: Their mellow smokiness reminds me of the smoked chilies that hung over the woodstove in my grandmother’s kitchen. If I can’t find pasillas de Oaxaca, I use a mix of New Mexico and chipotle chilies. If you ever see Kashmiri chilies, grab them — they are a true taste of India.”

Note: If you want a spicier dish, break the chili into smaller pieces.

Recipe excerpted from One Spice, Two Spice: American Food, Indian Flavors by Floyd Cardoz, with Jane Daniels Lear (William Morrow Cookbooks, 2006).