Oh this vegetable can be made in so many ways. Some people (like my family) blend it all in, some like to see the leaves in the curry, some add whole peanuts and some add them crushed....But every part of Maharashtra has it's own version.
There are 2 types of colocasia leaves, the thick leaves with the dark stems which are used to make aLuwadi or patra and the thinner leaves, lighter in colour and with green stems are used to make the vegetable. Simple reason is that the thinner leaves cook down faster and the thicker variety is able to hold up to the steaming and frying for the patra.
You can add peanuts, cashew nuts, chana daal, fresh coconut pieces or even radish pieces to this vegetable.
Here is my version.
2 bunches of the lighter green variety of leaves. Cut off the thick part of the stems and wash thoroughly. Chop coarsely.
4 cups of the chopped leaves
1 TBS tamarind pulp
2-3 green chillies
2 TBS besan (chick pea flour)
1 TBS jaggery
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup skinned raw peanuts (soaked overnight)
Put the leaves in a deep pot with 2 cups of water and the chopped green chillies. Cover and cook till tender. Depending on the tenderness of the leaves it take anything from 20 minutes to an hour. A better way is to cook them in the pressure cooker, 2 whistles and 10-12 minutes of steaming.
Add the tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt and besan to the cooked vegetable. Run the hand blender to blend everything together till smooth.
Adjust the water and seasoning, the consistency should be like a thick daal...Bring to a boil, add the soaked peanuts and simmer for 10 minutes.
We usually serve this with 'phodnicha tel' which basically means tempered oil. The oil is flavoured with garlic.
3 TBS oil
6-7 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp jeera (cumin)
Add the garlic and the oil to a pan and set on low heat. the oil should heat slowly and cook the garlic. If you add the garlic to hot oil, it browns quickly on the outside and the inside stays raw. If you try to cook it at temperature, the garlic burns. There is no worse taste than burnt garlic.
Let the garlic brown nicely on low heat, add the cumin and hing and remove from heat.
You can either add the entire oil to the curry or each person can add it to their own bowl as per taste.
Enjoy this taste of Maharashtra.
There are 2 types of colocasia leaves, the thick leaves with the dark stems which are used to make aLuwadi or patra and the thinner leaves, lighter in colour and with green stems are used to make the vegetable. Simple reason is that the thinner leaves cook down faster and the thicker variety is able to hold up to the steaming and frying for the patra.
You can add peanuts, cashew nuts, chana daal, fresh coconut pieces or even radish pieces to this vegetable.
Here is my version.
2 bunches of the lighter green variety of leaves. Cut off the thick part of the stems and wash thoroughly. Chop coarsely.
4 cups of the chopped leaves
1 TBS tamarind pulp
2-3 green chillies
2 TBS besan (chick pea flour)
1 TBS jaggery
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup skinned raw peanuts (soaked overnight)
Put the leaves in a deep pot with 2 cups of water and the chopped green chillies. Cover and cook till tender. Depending on the tenderness of the leaves it take anything from 20 minutes to an hour. A better way is to cook them in the pressure cooker, 2 whistles and 10-12 minutes of steaming.
Add the tamarind pulp, jaggery, salt and besan to the cooked vegetable. Run the hand blender to blend everything together till smooth.
Adjust the water and seasoning, the consistency should be like a thick daal...Bring to a boil, add the soaked peanuts and simmer for 10 minutes.
We usually serve this with 'phodnicha tel' which basically means tempered oil. The oil is flavoured with garlic.
3 TBS oil
6-7 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp jeera (cumin)
Add the garlic and the oil to a pan and set on low heat. the oil should heat slowly and cook the garlic. If you add the garlic to hot oil, it browns quickly on the outside and the inside stays raw. If you try to cook it at temperature, the garlic burns. There is no worse taste than burnt garlic.
Let the garlic brown nicely on low heat, add the cumin and hing and remove from heat.
You can either add the entire oil to the curry or each person can add it to their own bowl as per taste.
Enjoy this taste of Maharashtra.
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