Lablab Leaves

Although I already knew that lablab leaves as well as seeds were edible, I didn't know how to prepare them.  I've chopped them up and put them in a stir fry, but they were always still kind of fuzzy even after they were cooked.  But then, I learned that you can cook them like you cook cowpea leaves.  This was a novel idea.

So, since I recently learned how to cook cowpea leaves in the Ugandan fashion, I thought I had better try cooking lablab leaves in the same way.  Because if it turned out well, this is an easy way to explain to Ugandans from Teso how one can eat lablab leaves.

And it did turn out well.  I picked the young, tender leaves and put them in boiling water with baking soda, just like I did with the cowpea leaves.

Since I did not have any atigo, I picked a couple of tiny okras and chopped them up, then boiled them with the greens.  I think I might have put a little too much okra in for the amount of lablab that I had because it was a little too slimy.  But I did confirm that okra is an acceptable substitute for atigo.

I cooked the lablab longer than I had cooked the cowpea leaves, maybe an extra 10 minutes.  Cowpea leaves are pretty smooth whereas lablab is a little bit fuzzy.  It took longer before the leaves were cooked down enough to not feel fuzzy in your mouth.

And then, I mixed in the curry powder, salt, and peanut butter.  It looked and smelled just like eboo (the cowpea leaves).  To make certain, I had two Ugandan friends do a taste test and they agreed that it was quite fine!