Aug

27

Arvi / Taro / Colocasia … and Ragda Patties

August 27, 2007 |

arvi.jpg

We love arvi (colocasia esculenta) root. Other names for this tuber are dasheen, kalo (in Hawaiian), eddo and taro.

In India, it is known by various names - cheppankizhangu (Malayalam/Tamil), arvi (Hindi) and chama dumpa (Telugu).

Taro root is a starchy tuber vegetable that looks like, and can be used similar to, a potato. It does, however, have a hairy outer coating on its surface that is similar to the coating on a coconut. Because of this, when preparing to use a taro root, the root’s outer skin must first be removed. This procedure is easy to do. However, some individuals can acquire a skin irritation towards the juices that are secreted by the taro root as its skin is being removed. Therefore, to be on the safe side, when peeling a taro root’s skin, use protective rubber gloves. Additionally, because taro root can be toxic in its raw state, always cook it before using.

(From HERE)

“Typical of leaf vegetables, taro leaves are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are a good source of thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, and zinc, and a very good source of vitamin B6, vitamin C, niacin, potassium, copper, and manganese. Taro corms are very high in starch, and are a good source of dietary fiber. Oxalic acid may be present in the corm and especially in the leaf, and these foods should be eaten with milk or other foods rich in calcium so as to remove the risks posed by ingesting the free oxalic radical especially for people with kidney disorders, gout, or rheumatoid arthritis. Calcium reacts with the oxalate to form calcium oxalate which is very insoluble. “- from Wikipedia

The real prize is the taro leaf - often confused with elephant ear (botanical name - Xanthosoma Roseum).

Taro/Colocasia leaves are stacked up, rolled into spirals with a spiced chickpea paste, steamed and then fried to make patra/pathrode/ALU WADI.

We bought some taro roots and stuck two in the ground hoping for some leaves. They thrive in the fall where we live. With our temperatures in the 90s and 100s, we managed to get small plants with two leaves each. They grew to the size of our palm and stayed that way for a month. So we just chopped up the four leaves and added them to a dal with toor dal (split pigeon peas).

arvi-leaf-dal.jpg

Taro leaf Dal

Cook 1/2 cup toor dal with a pinch of turmeric, 1/2 cup chopped tomato and 1.5 cups water until mushy. Add salt. In one tsp. ghee/clarified butter (or oil), add 1/2 tsp each cumin and nigella seeds. When they sizzle, add 1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste and 4 palm-sized tender taro leaves finely chopped, stir. When the leaves wilt, add it to the dal, and garnish with some chopped cilantro.

We had ours with whole grain tomato wraps. Talking of wraps, we love the Flatout brand. No transfats, all 100% whole grain. Soft and tasty. Most stores carry this, and if they don’t, ask them to. It’s a boon for those who love rotis, but hate to roll them out, and don’t have hours to spend scouring the fine print on packaging.

It’s not like the the other brand that claims to be ‘zero transfat’. The ingredient list does have ‘partially hydrogenated’ fat of some sort. They can get away with this because if you have less than 0.5 grams per serving, in the U.S., you can legally say ‘0 transfat’. :rolleyes: Besides, while most of their products claim to be ‘whole grain’, it’s well short of 100%. The varieties that are 100% whole grain look and taste like roofing material.

Umm… no, Flatout didn’t pay us to say this.

ragdapattice1.jpg

Ragda with Arvi patties

Ragda patties is an integral part of street food in Bombay and parts of western India.
Potato patties float in a spicy gravy of white peas, smothered in a date-tamarind dip and cilantro-mint chutney, topped with chopped onions and a squeeze of lime.

For ARVI PATTIES,

We just replaced half the potatoes with boiled, peeled and mashed arvi (taro root). Making this entirely with arvi will result in a slimy gooey something, since arvi tends to get a bit stickier than potato when boiled. We recommend steaming it in the microwave with a dash of water. We love the flavour arvi imparts to this.

1 cup each mashed arvi and potatoes, salt and cayenne powder to taste, 2 tablespoons cornstarch (or 1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs). Mash them all together, and shallow fry in a hot pan with 2 tsps oil until brown on both sides.

For the ragda, we followed this Jain-style recipe, sans onions and garlic. We’ve made ragda this way numerous times, and loved it. Why fry onions if you don’t have to? Plus, we get to copy and paste the recipe, without typing anything. :cool:

RAGDA
(from Bawarchi.com)

Ingredients:
1 cup dehydrated white peas (soaked in water for 2 hours)
1/4 tsp. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. garam masala powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper powder
1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
1/4 tsp. dhania powder
1/4 tsp. jaljeera or chaat masala
1/4 tsp. black salt powdered (we omitted this)
1/4 tsp. amchoor (dry mango) powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp. oil

Grind to a paste:
2 green chillies
1 tbsp. coriander leaves
1 tbsp. mint leaves
2 slices bread
1 tbsp. fresh coconut chopped fine (we used dalia/pottu kadalai)
2 tbsp. boiled white peas

Method:
Pressure cook peas with four cups water till soft and mushy. (At least 5 whistles may be required).
Cool cooker, remove. Keep aside 2 tbsp. peas for grinding paste.
Put oil in a heavy deep vessel, and heat.
When smoky, add paste, stirfry for 2 minutes.
Add all dry masalas, salt, stirfry further 2 minutes.
Add boiled peas, water and all, bring to boil.
Simmer till the liquid is thick enough to thinly coat the back of a spoon.

Garnish with cilantro.

Drown patties in ragda, top with chutneys and dips, squeeze lime, and enjoy.

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33 Comments so far

  1. Anh on August 27, 2007 7:46 pm

    Interesting! I love taro, but never think of using it this way,

  2. Priya on August 27, 2007 9:00 pm

    I saw the taro leaves in our grocery store y’day and was wondering why the guy was selling lotus leaves with none of the lotus in sight :rofl: Will get the and try the pathrode :D The ragda looks yummyyyyyy and bread & coconut in the paste is totally new to me. Would never have imagined to add them :idea:

    you go to the grocery store and expect lotuses? you are too much. :D

  3. Sreelu on August 27, 2007 9:11 pm

    as kids we used to play with arbi leaves, who can keep the water on the leaves for long, I love arbi.another combination is arbi cooked in tamrind pulp. Ragada patti looks very appetizing

  4. Suganya on August 27, 2007 9:54 pm

    One thing I hate about store-bought tortillas/wraps (except uncooked ones) is the yeast odor. It puts me off. How do these wraps smell like?

    i smelt them, just for you :). they smell like regular rotis. - b.

  5. arundati on August 27, 2007 10:12 pm

    ragda patties looks mouthwatering……

  6. Nirmala on August 27, 2007 11:05 pm

    mmm…patties with chepankezhangu ? Sounds and looks yummy! My mom makes an out of the world fry with these little sticky roots. My younger kid (girl 1.5 yrs) is a plumpy one and my father used to call her as “chepankezhangu” as whenever he lifts her she would easily slip away and run ;)

  7. lathanarasimhan on August 27, 2007 11:50 pm

    Nice recipes Bee! my gujarathi friend grows these in her garden and uses them for pathrode and other steamed dishes.
    Arbi is always welcome for my son and hubby! :) :)

  8. archana on August 27, 2007 11:55 pm

    Everything looks superb :horn:Idea to combine arvi and potato is gr8.Ragda Patties looks yummy :dance: :bow:

  9. Jyothsna on August 28, 2007 12:04 am

    Hmm, since I have yam I’ll try with that!

  10. viji on August 28, 2007 2:37 am

    I am keep on planning for this dish. I just love the combo bee. Will try sometime. Nice post. Viji

  11. Asha on August 28, 2007 4:59 am

    I bought Taro roots and cooked it just to experiment.Didn’t like the texture at all, threw the whole dish out. I would love to cook with leaves though,I will bury some too!
    Ragda patties looks great and so does dal with leaves!:)

  12. Pooja on August 28, 2007 7:15 am

    Ragada pattice is my favourite. i have some arvi t home. will try them today evening for snacks. Your pics are a visual treat.

  13. Latha on August 28, 2007 7:15 am

    Very creative Bee - so is Arvi less starchy than potato is? Is there a reason u replaced the aloo with the arvi? My mom makes arvi roast at home (I’m sure most people do) and it really has a very nice flavor and taste to it.
    Your ragda patties looks yumm! Should try the jain recipe next time (my mom does not eat garlic and eats onions only sparingly).
    The dal looks good. I dont know if we find arvi leaf here! should check on that!

    arvi is more starchy. i first tried the all arvi version and it was slimy. that’s why i added 50% potato. i like the flavour of arvi, though. we usually panfry it unil crisp. it’s doesn’t take well to steaming or boiling. - b.

  14. Anonymous on August 28, 2007 8:03 am

    Bee,
    you can make various dishes using the kizhangu and leaf.curries, thorans etc..loved recipes here..

  15. Laavanya on August 28, 2007 8:26 am

    English written in Hindi in the photo of the taro leaf was very cool. :yes: I love arvi too but have never ventured past the usual fry that is made with it. That’s an interesting addition to ragda patties - looks good ;;)

  16. Raaga on August 28, 2007 8:44 am

    I made patrode the weekend before the camping trip… will post soon :-) was waiting for RCI.

    This recipe is great!!

    raaga gets strategic. :cool: - b.

  17. vinu on August 28, 2007 8:54 am

    Hey! the pictures were good
    I grow vegetables and arvi is important in a village .There is a belief that pathrodes must be eaten in the Ati season. I just loved the ragda recipe hope to try it with my farm fresh arvi.The vegetable growing is a earning hobby.

  18. Nags on August 28, 2007 8:57 am

    i LOVE ragda. have to try it one day myself. normally just settle for the ones i get at the chaatwaala..

    really love ur food presentation and the effort you take on ur blog..

    and thanks a ton for being so prompt in ur visit :)

  19. Rajitha on August 28, 2007 10:02 am

    you gave me a great idea.. i think i will plant taro root in my garden to get those leaves. i am yet to see one here in the grocery stores :( i love the steamed taro leaves, as for the arvi itself…..yuck :tongue:

  20. enjay on August 28, 2007 11:02 am

    Gotta make this..hubby bought the dried white peas and I could not come up with an inspiration..thanks!

  21. Mekhala on August 28, 2007 12:33 pm

    I should definitely give your ragda recipe a try. The same ragda is used to smother small-flat-crisp-puris (then garnished with chopped onions, cilantro, beaten yogurt and sev) and is sold as ‘masala puri’ in the chat stalls of B’lore. And the ragda recipe without the onions and garlic comes closest in taste to the street one.

  22. Maninas on August 28, 2007 1:01 pm

    i’ve seen these before, but didn’t know what they were. thanks for the explanation!

    btw, i discovered your blog a few days ago and i love it!

  23. Mythili on August 28, 2007 2:18 pm

    Arvi patties.. .that’s awesome :yes: !! Taro leaf dal too… I never tried it though.

    ——–
    On another note, are you Idahoans ready to accomodate Sen. Craig.. are you ready to forgive him :P :P :rofl:

    :D we heathens don’t have the power to forgive. you need to have a spehhhshhul hotline to god to be able to do that.
    and we all know that craig is not terribly bright.
    http://jugalbandi.info/2007/02/todays-headlines/

    - b.

  24. neroli on August 28, 2007 2:26 pm

    The light in your photographs is always lovely—a subject in itself—that top taro leaf image glows!

  25. richa on August 28, 2007 2:33 pm

    am ready for ragda patties anytime :D

  26. mandira on August 29, 2007 1:54 pm

    such a great idea… definitely on my list to make!

  27. prema on August 29, 2007 7:00 pm

    A very innovative dish with arvi… I usually do only fries with this veg, but its nice to know that it can be used for making patties too. u can even make spicy patties that can be kept inside the burger too..

  28. E-D of Indian Vegetables » jugalbandi on August 29, 2007 7:14 pm

    […] Arvi / Taro / Colocasia … and Ragda Patties […]

  29. Kajal on September 2, 2007 7:09 pm

    Very nice information about this taro roots and leaves.
    Something different recipe for me you nicely present this recipe with dal.
    Can we eat this taro leaf dal with rice or not?
    We make one recipe from this taro leaf and known as “Patar”.
    Ragda with Arvi Patties looks absolutely delicious. Mouthwatering dish…..
    ;;)

  30. Dee on September 10, 2007 9:23 am

    Yummy! I have a chaat party coming up and we cant get enough of arvi. Thanks for the recipe!

  31. Tsara Be on October 16, 2007 12:00 am

    taro leaves cooked with fried chicken and spiced with curry…yum! I don’t really like taro itself but as you I often buy it hoping for some leaves.

  32. sunflower on November 30, 2007 7:11 pm

    Can someone tell me the hindi/english name for a tuber called “Kurka” in Malayalam?

    i think it’s called ‘catmint’ (botanical name: Calamintha nepeta). more about it here. - b.

  33. Rashmi on May 20, 2008 11:11 am

    Hi,
    Nice to see the Taro leaves and the recipes. Well, there are two varieties of taro, one is edible and the other one gives you allergies. The allergies are so worse that even when you start washing and cutting, you can feel that itchiness in your hands. So, be safe.

    Happy Cooking.

    (dont know how my e-mail and websites got interchanged!!)

    Rashmi

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