Getting to the Root: Taro ~ Arbi ki sabzi

A native to India, the root vegetable Taro is recognized to have originated in southern India. Oddly Nigeria is the top producer of this vegetable and India is not even in the top 5!
Like any root vegetable it likes deep, moist, swampy type soil to grown in....very tropical indeed. There are over 25 varieties and the most common one in India are the small sized ones that range from 1.5-3 inches in length.

Arbi ki Sabzi - Taro root in yoghurt gravy

I cook this vegetable quite often as the boys enjoy this vegetable lightly spiced and plenty roasted, but then there are days when I like to make it gravy style so that we can have it along with roti or rice. I often surprise guests with the recipe I'm sharing today and tends to draw much curiosity and a new found appreciation for the vegetable that often stumps people on how to cook it!

Couple of important things to keep in  mind is that the tuber has a mildly gooey texture on the outer surfac after cooking.

1. Choose even sized taro or arbi, so that they cook evenly.
2. Boil the arbi in water for 6-10 minutes depending upon the quantity.
3. Peel the skin off and then cut in even sized pieces.
4. Roasting the arbi gives it a crisp exterior and is perfect to use in the Air-fryer.
5. Finally, some varieties can give you an mildly itchy/tingely senstations in your palms while peeling so just lighly grease your palms and add some sour agent like, amchur, lime juice or tamarind water while further cooking the tuber to neutralize the oxalates.

Arbi ki sabzi in a thali meal: Raita, Arbi, stirfried mixed vegetables, thepla, pickle and chutney

Arbi ki Sabzi
Ingredients
500 gms Arbi or Taro root
2 tbsp cornstarch/arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric
1 cup curd or yoghurt
1 cup water
1 tbsp besan/ gram flour
2-4 cloves

1/2 tsp ajwain/ carom seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds/jeera

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp amchur powder/dry mango powder

1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder

1/8 tsp Hing/Asafoetida

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 tbsp ghee

Oil for shallow frying

1 Green chilli, slit

Salt to taste

Juice of one small lime

Coriander leaves for garnish

Method

Boil the arbi in water for 6-8 mintures or until they are soft enough to pierce with a knife. Cool, peel and slice into 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat with cornstarch and salt and shallow fry in a pan until pale gold in colour. Remove and set aside.

Blend to a thick puree the curds, water and besan and set aside.

Heat a kadhai with ghee and add the cloves, jeera, and carom seeds and allow it to sputter. Add the hing, turmeric, ginger and red chilli powder. Add the curd puree, lower heat and cook for 6-8 minutes until it comes to a soft simmer, add a bit more water if you want the gravy to be thinner, add salt and the pan fried arbi. add a slit chilli and cook for another minute or two and then add lime juice and coriander leaves and turn off the flame. Serve hot with phulka rotis or any bread of your choice. 

A slippery situation

Mention Okra and you will find many people who love to hate it - the reason that this crisp vegetable gets a bad rap is because: (a) Ooze - if the vegetable is damp from rinsing it will ooze while cooking; (b) if it is overcooked it will turn gelatinous.

Be good to yourself and indulge in this vegetable, or more like: Indulge as much as you can.
The reason is simple. Okra or ladies fingers (british english name), you're doing yourself a favor. Okra has lots of vitamin C and plenty of B vitamins and minerals, especially magnesium, potassium and calcium. It also is high in fiber.

Once treasured as a delicacy in Moorish Spain, this vegetable had its origin in Ethiopia. From that ancient land, it traveled north to the Mediterranean shores and east to India.

As children our grandmother encouraged us to eat our okra as it said to increase brain power! Research now shows that okra contains a fair amount of folic acid which helps prevent neural tube defects in developing fetuses….not an old wife’s tale after all.

I make okra quite regularly as my husband enjoys it and here is one version of the vegetable side dish I make. I am often asked what is the magic to making this delicious dish? It is quite straightforward and that is the honest truth! I hope you can enjoy the simplicity of this dish.

Kale Aloo Bhindi

Ingredients

1 lbs okra / ladiesfinger, rinsed and completely dry (not a spot of moisture) and cut into 1 inch pieces
½ lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp whole coriander seeds
1 + ½ tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp red chili powder (optional)
2 tsp Amchur powder (dry mango powder) or 2 tsp lime juice
2 - 4 tsp oil
Salt to taste

Method
Heat a pan and broil the coriander seeds and 1 tsp of the cumin seeds. Cool and powder. Heat oil in a pan and add ½ tsp cumin seeds and allow to sputter. Add the turmeric powder and chopped potatoes. Cook on a low flame until the potatoes are ¾ cooked. Add the okra, cumin/coriander powder, chili powder (optional), lime juice and salt. Cover and cook until the okra is tender but still firm. Serve warm on ciabatta bread with garlic aioli or with roti’s and dal.

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This recipe has been submitted for the event Green Gourmet, created and hosted by Preeti of Write Food

Jack be nimble………put to the test

Let me give you a little background.

Vasantha mami, a person whom I TOTALLY adore lives with her daughter in the neighborhood. In their huge urban backyard amongst many delightful plants is a jackfruit tree that has several fruits ripening on it. On a recent visit with them, I was the recipient of ¼ of a fruit (each fruit can weigh up to 30-60kgs when fully ripe) since this was a “smaller” one, the piece weighed maybe 2-3 kgs. After the fruit was cut open we realized that it was not completely ripe!

Here is my 10 year old son holding on to a fruit on the tree

Once cut we had to either consume it or throw it away……(not an option for me) so in this semi ripe stage I decided to make a dish with it and decided to blog about it anyway (I’m not sure how many people in the virtual world have access to this strictly tropical fruit found only in parts of south east Asia) it was an experiment with a happy ending. The dish tasted delightful and had an interesting texture to - not crisp or soft, but pleasingly mealy, so here goes.

Jackfruit Subzi
Ingredients
1 kg peeled jackfruit (about 12-15 individual segments)
3 medium sized potato, peeled and cubed into 2 inch pieces
2 – 3 medium sized onions, finely chopped
3 – 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
3 – 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Small knob of ginger, chopped
2 green chilies, slit down the center
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp red chili powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
Handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Juice of one lime
2-4 tsp oil
1 – 2 cups water
Salt to taste

Method
Peel the jackfruit and separate the individual sections. Remove the small seed in the center of the fruit, wash, chop into cubes and set aside. Heat oil, add the garlic, onion, ginger, salt and cook until the onion turns deep pink/red. Add tomatoes and all the dry powders and cook until pulpy. Add the jackfruit, potato water, cover and cook on a low flame until both the jackfruit and potatoes are softened. Add lime juice and coriander leaves, serve warm.

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This recipe has been submitted for the event Green Gourmet, created and hosted by Preeti of Write Food