Vernonia amygdalina Bitter leaf recipes

[Nicola!@#]

I have a bitter leaf tree growing but I haven't got suitable recipes. The only recipes I find are African recipes of some irresistible soups or dishes with all the ingredients I can't find. crab powder? Some special spices? Stcokfish we don't have that!! I need a recipe I can make with locally obtainable ingredients even if it's a bit less yummy. Yes we have a butcher and we can buy fish cheap but nothing fancy like stockfish (I love stockfish!). I can buy prawns.
My tree grows nicely and is quite adaptable.

[Daintree]

I grow bitter leaf in my greenhouse, and I make lamb curry sometimes with it -
First, wash the bitter leaf leaves at least 10 times by soaking in warm water, swishing around, squeezing it, draining water, etc.
Chop coarsely and simmer in salted water for about 30 minutes. Drain well.
Then I put the lamb curry on top of the cooked leaves.
For my lamb curry I use grated tomatoes (I just grate halved tomatoes on a cheese grater as a fast way to get rid of the skins), a can of coconut milk, red or yellow curry paste, depending on my mood, and a chopped yellow onion and a cube of the plain Maggi seasoning. Then I simmer the chopped lamb in that.  If I am in a hurry I put the lamb in the pressure cooker first.

That is about all I can think of that doesn't have weird stuff in it.  I am not a fan of dried prawns or dried fish - REALLY salty.

You can also use the above recipe for the cooked bitter leaf as a substitute for cooked spinach in just about any recipe.  I have tossed the cooked bitter leaf with a bit of vinegar and cooked bacon and just treated them like cooked collard greens.

The big thing is that if you treat it right ahead of time, they should not be very bitter. No more than spinach.

Cheers,
Carolyn