As promised earlier, I am posting this recipe for Alu Vadi (Steamed Colacasia/Taro leaf rolls).I made these almost 10 days ago and never got the time to post them. My little one keeps me busy most of the time when I am back from work. Earlier he would go to sleep by 8 -8:30 in the night and I would get some free time to blog .Now-a-days he puts me to sleep! Most of the times I doze off while trying to put him to sleep.Even to take a photograph before I leave to work has now become tricky. He gets his own plate and says ‘Mama Phofo!’ So first we take photos of his plate and then mine. Then sometimes he has the whim to click the photos! (You can see some of my pics not so artistic-that’s our joint effort!)
Anyways I am trying my best to keep blogging come what may….someday both of us will write a post together too!
Coming back to Alu Vadi,-Alu in Marathi, Arbi in Hindi and Colocasia/Taro in English. We have these plants in our kitchen garden. Alu is a very hassle free plant. It only needs good amount of water- not much pampering is required.We make curry (Alu chi Bhaji) from the Alu leaves or Alu Vadi (Steamed rolls). Both are delicious though I prefer the Vadi more.
For Alu Vadi you need:
8 Alu/Colocasia/Taro leaves (use even number of leaves)
For the coating
- cup besan xbeth (Chick pea flour)
- 2 tsp tamarind pulp
- 1 tsp jaggery crushed
- 1 pinch Asafoetida
- xbd tsp Cumene powder
- xbd tsp Coriander powder
- xbd - 1 tsps red chilli powder
- xbc tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt as per taste
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp seeds cumene
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- For the coating mix all the ingredients. Add water to make a paste (neither too thick or too thein.You should be able to coat the leaves. Almost to the consistency of Bhajjia batter) Mix the paste with hand if required ensuring that no lumps remain in the batter.Wash and dry the Alu leaves. Be careful while cutting these leaves from the stems. The stems of these leaves release some juice which stains clothes. So take care not to stain your clothes.Keep two leaves preferably of same size upside down one over the other. Using a rolling pin flatten the veins of these leaves. Apply the Besan paste all over the leaf. Once the entire leaf has been coated start rolling the leaf from the base towards the tip as shown in the picture. While rolling apply the paste on each fold to seal it properly.
- Similarly make 3 more rolls from the remaining 6 leaves. Steam them till done. Insert a knife and check.It should come out clean.
- Cool nicely. Cut them into small rolls. Arrange them in a flat dish.In a small pan heat oil, add the cumene seeds, fennel seeds and sesame seeds. Spread this tempering on the Alu vadis.
- Serve this as a side dish.
- Like I said earlier there are lot of variations to this recipe. Some people deep/shallow fry these Vadis. But I find topping them with the tempering more healthy, so I do it this way. As a variation you can also add garlic to the Besan paste used for coating. It tastes great. You can also increase the number of leaves, sandwiching the paste between each leaf.That is you can take all 8 leaves one over the other applying the paste on each leaf. Choice is yours!
Never tried this Alu leaves! Looks delicious, I don’ t know whether we can get here but I will try and find it.Looks great though:)
Happy Holidays.
great recipe, I used to eat it a lot when i mum used to make now in her elder years she don’t cook as much. I just got the recipe from her and was planning on making it, i now have your recipe, thats great…many thanks for sharing….~smile~
Looks great, I liked your idea of tempering this at the last minute, it is healthier that way..!
Thanks and happy holidays!
Oh! I love these as you know fried. I love the bhaji too 🙂
I never could find fresh leaves here. But I hope I do find them near the coast where I am going to end up..
Mark this as one more thing we will make when I get there 🙂
Just today, my mil made patrode, which is a Mangalorean version of colacasia rolls. It was so yum! The coating was different from yours. Will post it sometime. I’d love to try your version too. It looks delicious! 🙂
Hi Madhuli! Nice explanatory pix – wish I had a steady supply of this. I’ve tasted it just a couple of times, can be a bit itchy on the tongue, right?
A beautiful authentic recipe, Madhuli. Used to have this plant in our backyard and now with your post, I intend to grow Taro again. Thanks to your lovely post.
Happy New Year!!
Wishing peace, health, and happiness in 2007 and always. Happy New year to you and your family !
@Happy New Year to you and your family too Priya
Thank you all of you for your nice comments.
sra@yes some varieties can be itchy so i stick to the leaves from my own garden 🙂
Is this taro the same thing as the elephant ears I have in my garden? My friend Sanjyot thinks it is the the same thing as ALU they have in India? We just want to make sure it is the same plant before we try to eat it! It looks like the photo above but how do we know for sure?
can u please give me the nutritional info??!! i love this to death but m always in 2minds… :p
good recipie am a beginer in coocking i will definetly try this out.
thanks and pls. let me know how it turned out.
Really nice recipe, I will be trying it today because I already got these rare leaves here in dayton, OH. They are delicious I know, but never tried on my own. Thank u very much. I liked your style of writing 🙂 Keep posting even though not very artistic as a joint venture 😛
i made them and they turned out itchy for the throat…what did i do wrong????:((
Sonal you didn’t do anything wrong. Some of the leaves can be itchy due to the natural toxins present in the leaves.You need to change the source of the leaves . Read Pel’s/ Vee’s tip in this post here on how you can test if the leaves are itchy: http://elaichietcetera.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/patra-bajia-stuffed-arbicolocasiataro-leaves-begins-the-quadrille/
after making u realize that the alu itself was “””khajra”””