Red Malabar Spinach/Indian Spinach (Basella alba `rubra`) - Exotic leafy vegetable for balcony and garden

As summer days get hotter and regular garden spinach has long since bolted, this exotic climbing artist really starts to shine! Red Malabar spinach is not only a fantastic addition to your diet, but also a spectacular eye-catcher for your garden, balcony, or patio. With its vibrant crimson vines and succulent, glossy leaves, it brings color, flavor, and an extra dose of tropical flair directly to your home.

Scope of delivery: Each young plant in a 7cm pot (approx. 10cm)

Origin, Tradition & Special Features: The heat-loving climbing wonder

Originally, red Malabar spinach (Basella alba 'Rubra'), which is often called Ceylon spinach or Indian spinach due to its Asian roots, comes from the warm, humid tropics of India and Southeast Asia. There, it is not just a vegetable, but a historically deeply rooted staple food! In traditional Indian cuisine, it is added daily to aromatic lentil dals, fried into crispy pakoras, or braised with potatoes and mustard seeds in hearty curries. In the Philippines, where the plant is called "Alugbati," it is an indispensable base for traditional, warming vegetable stews. Furthermore, this climbing wonder has a firm place in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is highly valued for its slightly cooling and digestive-promoting properties.

Unlike our domestic leaf spinach, it loves full sun and high summer temperatures. Botanically speaking, it is not actually a true spinach, but it is used in the kitchen in much the same way—only with the great advantage that it provides you with a lush harvest exactly when conventional leafy greens have long since wilted in the summer heat.

Red vines and impressive growth height

Be sure to give this vigorous plant a climbing frame, a trellis on the house wall, or a few strong strings. The deep red, sturdy shoots wind elegantly upward and easily reach a growth height of 2 to 3 meters in a single summer – and under good, warm conditions, it climbs even higher (4 meters and more are not uncommon!). The combination of the wine-red stems and the glossy dark green, thick leaves makes this vigorous perennial an edible feast for the eyes and a perfect, fast-growing privacy screen. In late summer, it also adorns itself with small, delicate white-pink flowers, which later develop into deep purple berries.

Care & Overwintering

• Care: As a child of the tropics, Ceylon spinach loves a full-sun, warm, and wind-sheltered location. Plant it in loose, nutrient-rich soil. Since it grows extremely fast and forms a lot of leaf mass, it is quite thirsty and hungry. Water it regularly on hot days (without causing waterlogging) and provide it with a good organic fertilizer every few weeks.

• Overwintering: Since it cannot tolerate any frost at all, Malabar spinach is often mistakenly grown only as an annual in our region. Yet it is naturally a perennial! You can easily overwinter it: As soon as temperatures in autumn drop below 10 °C, prune the long vines generously and bring the pot indoors. In a bright location at approx. 15 °C (for example, in the hallway, on a bright bedroom windowsill, or in a conservatory), it will easily survive the cold season and sprout vigorously again next spring.

Into the kitchen – What you can do with your harvest:

The heart-shaped leaves are wonderfully crisp, almost succulent-like juicy, and have a mild, slightly earthy aroma with a fine, fresh citrus note. Harvesting is continuous: simply snip off the leaves or the soft, upper shoot tips directly.

• The juicy summer salad: The young, tender leaves taste fantastic raw. Thanks to their fleshy structure, they give mixed salads a great crunch and do not wilt as quickly.

• From the wok: Like real spinach, it can be wonderfully steamed or stir-fried in a hot wok. A huge advantage: it shrinks far less when cooked than regular spinach!

• The natural thickener: Similar to okra or aibika, the leaves contain valuable plant compounds that naturally thicken soups, dals, and curries when cooked for longer periods.

Recipe Tip: Quick Sesame-Garlic Spinach from the Wok

Since the leaves are so wonderfully fleshy, they are best prepared Asian-style in a wok. By stir-frying them for a very short time, the Ceylon spinach retains its great color and crisp bite.

Ingredients:

• 1 large bowl of red Malabar spinach / Ceylon spinach (fresh leaves and soft shoot tips, washed)

• 3 cloves of garlic (cut into thin slices)

• 1 tbsp light sesame oil (or peanut oil for frying)

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

• Optional: A squeeze of lime juice or a little chili

Preparation:

1. Prepare: Let the washed spinach drain well. Cut large leaves in half if necessary; leave the shoot tips whole.

2. Aromatize: Get the wok or a large pan really hot. Add the oil and fry the garlic slices (and chili, if using) for a few seconds until golden yellow – be careful not to let them turn bitter!

3. Stir-fry: Add the damp Ceylon spinach to the wok. Toss everything vigorously. It needs at most 2 to 3 minutes. It should only just wilt but still retain some structure in the middle.

4. Deglaze: Deglaze with the soy sauce, immediately remove from the heat, and arrange on a platter.

5. Garnish: Finish with the toasted sesame seeds and a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Get this visual and culinary highlight into your garden bed or on your balcony! Red Malabar spinach will reward you with rapid growth, vibrant colors, and a delicious, crisp harvest that you will be able to enjoy well into the autumn.