This Legume Tree Naturally Fertilizes the Soil

One of the staple pulses in Indian cuisine, the pigeon pea is much more than just a tasty ingredient in daal. It doubles as a natural fertilizer and can take nitrogen from the air and fix it into the soil. In this episode, we’ll talk with Aeles, an indigenous chef in Taiwan, about the ways her tribe cooks the pea; Vikram Doctor, a food journalist in India on how it’s used in Indian cuisine; and Koreen Brennan, a permaculture instructor based in Florida, on why it’s such a great plant to have in tropical gardens.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Min 0:00: Meet Aeles
• Min 2:07: What is pigeon pea? 
• Min 3:22: How Aeles and the Taromak cook pigeon pea
• Min 6:21: Meet Vikram Doctor
• Min 6:39: Why split legumes?
• Min 8:04: The fundamentality of pigeon pea to Indian cooking 
• Min 11:51: Legumes as nitrogen fixers
• Min 16:17: Increasing substitution of pigeon peas with yellow peas
• Min 19:34: How climate change will affect legume consumption
• Min 22:14: Meet Koreen Brennan
• Min 23:04: How a permaculturist grows pigeon pea

Climate Cuisine is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about this episode of Climate Cuisine at www.whetstoneradio.com, on IG and Twitter at @whetstoneradio, and YouTube at /WhetstoneRadio.

Guests: Aeles, Vikram Doctor (@vikram.doctor), Koreen Brennan

Want to hear the entire episode of Spirit Plate? You can listen to Shiloh Maples here.