The vegetable hummingbird (Sesbania grandiflora) or agati (in India) is called pokok turi merah in Malay and it grows from Malaysia to North Australia as well as various parts in between the two countries. It's beautiful flowers resemble tiny hummingbirds or bright parrots' beaks (hence its other name - parrots beak flower).
Although its flowers, leaves and fruit (which grows in long thin pods) are edible, it is seldom seen in Malaysia nowadays, especially in urban areas. In the villages and Malaysian countryside, its flowers are still eaten, sometimes raw, as a vegetable, and in Sri Lanka, its leaves are added to a white curry because it is believed to be a cure for cankers.
There are two varieties of pokok turi - a scarlet one and a white one. Both have beautiful, vibrantly coloured flowers. And its wood is used in India as well as Sri Lanka as a substitute for bamboo for making furniture because it is strong and quite flexible.
The flowers are rich in iron and have a fragrance and flavour reminiscent of mushrooms, though only the petals are eaten. The centre part of the flower does have a very bitter taste. The seeds can also be fermented into tempeh (a kind of fermented bean fritter) while the seedpods are eaten like long beans. The young leaf fronds have a very high Vitamin C content, while the flowers are rich in Vitamin B.
The dried leaves can also be made into a tea, said to have antibiotic and anti-tumour properties. Just 20g of sesbania grandiflora provides 14.6 mg of Vitamin C, 0.17 mg of iron, Vitamin B and a host of other trace minerals and amino acids. It lowers blood pressure and keeps your arteries flexible. So it is quite an important dietary supplement in the poorer areas of South East Asia. Perhaps it is time to make this lovely plant more accessible and more easily available in the big cities!
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