Senna siamea as food

The kassod tree (Senna (Cassia) siamea, Fabaceae) has yellow flowers, compound leaves and brittle wood. It is native to Thailand and often planted as an ornamental both in Thailand and abroad. At Dokmai Garden in Chiang Mai  it grows just east of the hill.

My family like to cook with the flowering buds:

Collect one budding flower panicle and put the buds in a bowl. Boil the buds for about 20 minutes, discard the water with the bitter compounds (poisonous) and rinse with clean cold water. If you do not want to use the buds directly put them in a plastic bag in the fridge. Put the boiled buds in a mortar and crush them into a paste. Add anything you like. We add Thai anchovy (pla ra), fish sauce (nam pla), chili, clams or tuna or mackerel, spring onion. Serve with sticky rice and some fresh vegetables (anything you like). Thai people drink water (traditionally not beer, not tea). We call this dish ‘soop ki lek’.

Organic of course!

Removing the buds is a perfect activity to engage small children.

Ketsanee Seehamongkol