Do you toss away this top greens?

Seeing those fresh tender carrots in my farmers market, I fondly remembered my Ooty trip. Probably twice in my life time, I visited this hill station for summer vacation. When the summer heat scorches in most part of Tamil Nadu. People escape for days or week to relax. The foggy weather and the chill morning are the charm. Breathing the eucalyptus oil smell in the air will glue you forever.

You cannot go unnoticeable with fresh, crisp "Ooty carrot" sold by the roadside stalls. That is the only place I have seen carrots with greens. As we never get with green top in our market while returning home we buy some carrots. The time we reach our place and the travel heat makes the leaves wilt. We end up tossing the leaves in trash. 

I got some organic carrots from my local market. Those carrots were very appealing, they were tender and slender with lush feathery greens. I was about to toss the green in my recycling bin. Gave a second thought and save it. Wanted to check if they were edible first. To my surprise, the search results are full of controversy. Few debate,the leaves are toxic and many not. I saw many recipes like soup, tea, salad, pesto etc.. and finally wanted to double check if there is any Indian recipes. I landed to Desi soccer mom with carrot greens and another blogger combined with paneer. You can educate more visiting the Carrotmuseum and recipe ideas.
The leaves are edible and highly nutritive, rich in protein, minerals and vitamins. The leaves contains plenty of potassium which may leave a bitter taste. I tasted freshly and didn't found any bitter taste at all!

Note: some people are Allergic so be cautious if you are prone to any allergie. I decided to give a try in chutney/thogayal - Can be mixed with plain rice, or side for dosai or idlis.

I only used the leaves not the stem.

 Carrot top Greens Chutney/thogayal

Print:

Ingredients:

Carrot top greens: From one bunch of carrots (approximately 2 cups of leaves)
Fresh Coconut grated: 1/4 cup
Green chillies: 5 to 6 num (reduce to ur spice level)
Tamarind: one to two inch (es)
Ginger: 2 tsp minced or diced
Urad dhal: 1 tbsp
Salt: to taste
Oil: 1 tsp

Seasoning:
Oil: 1 tsp
Hing: a pinch
Urad dhal: 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds: 1/2 stp
Curry leaves: few leaves

Method:
Pluck the leaves only and rinse in water until you don't find any sand in your bottom of the bowl. Drain in  a colander .
Heat the oil, fry the urad dhal given in ingredient list. next sauté the ginger, tamarind and green chillies.
After few seconds, add the leaves  and sauté just few seconds.
Let it cool completely and grind with minimum water, adjust the salt.

Seasoning.
Heat the oil and follow the ingredients one by one, when they crack , stop the stove and mix with the ground chutney.

If it happens to grab some fresh carrot with leaves don't throw away :) Better get some organic, so no fear of pesticide.

Storing tip: When you get the carrots with greens attached.

Snap the greens and wrap with slightly wet napkin in fridge.

Store the carrot with few drops of water in bag for freshness.

If you store both together, the leaves pull the water from the root (carrot).