Rasedaar Arbi…..Colosia curry

Arbi/ colocasia/ taro roots,  grows in abundance beside any water body in India.  People are fond of consuming it in many forms. Sweet colocasia of good quality is consumed raw combining with coconut, mustard paste and mustard oil. Its eaten, in boiled form which is very healthy. There are endless recipes from dry, fried, fritters to curry. They are delicious.

Today I am sharing a recipe which is popular among Jain, Baniya community in Northern part of India. They  are pure vegetarian and do not consume even onion and  garlic. In most of their dishes the key spices are, asafoetida and garam masala.

I cooked these colocasia with buttermilk. It came out super tasty.

Please go through the note below before you decide to cook it.

Ingredients:

1. Arbi/Colocasia of small size- ½ kg
2. Asafoetida powder- ½ tspn
3. Coriander powder- 2 tblspn
4. Cumin powder- ½ tspn
5. Turmeric powder- 1 tblspn
6. Garam masala powder-1/4^th tspn
7. Red chili powder- ½ tspn
8. Cumin seeds- 1 tspn
9. Carom seeds- 1/4^th tspn
10. Green Chili- 2 slitted
11. Ginger paste – 1 tspn
12. Buttermilk- 1 glass(half cup curd whipped and combined with water)
13. Oil- ½ cup
14. Chopped coriander- 2 tblspn
15. Water 1 glass+ 1cup

Cooking Instructions:

Wash the Arbi thoroughly in water so that all impurities in the skin is removed.

In pressure cooker pour 1 glass of water. Add 1 tblspn viniger. Now cook it till 1 whistle. It should be just done so that the skin could be removed easily.  It can be boiled in a pan also.

Drain the water and peel the skin.

Heat oil in a wok. Deep fry these arbi till nicely browned. Keep aside.

In the same oil add cumin seed ans carom seeds. Let it splatter. Add asafoetida , coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder one by one.  Add ginger paste and red chili powder, green chili. Stir for ½ second then add water.  Bring to boil then add Arbi and salt. If the arbi are not fully cooked then Cook it covered in low flame till they are soft and fully cooked. Generally they get cooked while frying so covered cooking is not required. Add the butter milk and keep stirring constantly till the curry starts boiling otherwise the curd will get coagulated. Cook till the required consistence. Put garam masala and coriander powder. Its ready to serve.

Paired best with Rotis, Naan or Parathas.  It is eaten with rice also.

Note:

Taro roots or colocasia are rich source of nutrients. It contains magnesium, iron, fibre, potassium, manganese, zind, copper and phosphorus. Rich in vitamin A, B6, C and E. It contains good amount of antioxidants.

But it has some side effects also hence better to be cautious while buying and cooking and consuming this vegetable. This is the reason that inspite of its benefits its not as popular as other vegetables.  People who are vulnerable to allergy should avoid consuming it.  Taro roots are toxic in nature and can cause itching, burning sensation after consuming.

However, if bought from reliable source and cooked well, it can give health benefits