Chaya
By: Anonymous

About

Chaya is a little known leafy green vegetable of dry regions of the tropics, and is a large leafy shrub that reaches a height between 6 and 8 feet. The name comes from the Mayan chay, and it is a favorite garden vegetable of the ancient Maya because it is easy to grow, and can be easily reproduced by propagating stem cuttings from another plant. Other common names are tree spinach, chaya col, kikilchay, and chaykeken.
The leaves are prepared much like spinach. Chaya must be cooked, however, because of the presence of cyanogenic glucosides . You can boil Chaya for about 10 minutes, with a bit of salt to preserve vitamin c levels, steam, fry, or microwave for 10 minutes and that will remove any toxins from the leaves. The use of gloves during harvesting is suggested to protect your hands from tiny spines that are on the leave, these are eliminated after cooking. Some varieties of Chaya that are grown do not have spines on them at all. Younger leaves and a bit of the stems are cut and used much like spinach. Large leaves are cut into smaller pieces before cooking.

Information
Translations: Τσάγια, 茶屋, 차야, Chayi, חיה, Чая, छाया, Чаю, 茶屋, Цхаиа, Чая