Saltbush and warrigal greens damper

The native greens add flavour to this easy home-made bread.

Saltbush and warrigal greens damper. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 450 g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
• 80 g plant-based butter, at room temperature, plus extra to serve
• 2 tsp dried saltbush
• 100 g warrigal greens, thinly sliced
• 1 50 cm sheet of banana leaf

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. To a bowl, add the flour and butter and mix together using your hands until fully combined.
3. Add the saltbush and warrigal greens and mix through.
4. Add 375 ml water to the mixture, a little at a time, and mix with your fingers until you have a nice sticky dough.
5. Place some flour on your work surface, then knead the dough until you have a bread-dough consistency. Roll into a log, then set aside.
6. Before using your banana leaf, you need to release the oils to make it flexible and bring out the flavours. Hold the banana leaf over an open gas flame and move across the flame in sections until the oils seep through the entire leaf. If you do not have a gas flame, place in a dry, non-stick frying pan for a few seconds on each side.
7. Place the dough in the centre of the banana leaf. Wrap it, folding over each end, and roll it up like a burrito. Then wrap in aluminium foil using the same method.
8. Place on an oven shelf and cook for 50–60 minutes.
9. Serve with plant-based butter.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.