Pathrode / Patra (Colocasia Leaf Rolls)

Pathrode or Colocasia Leaf Rolls (Pic by June Carvalho)

COLOCASIA plants grow in profusion all through the year around my parents' house near Mangalore. During a recent visit, I brought back a few leaves to make (after a very long time), these rolls, also known as pathrode in Konkani. 

The leaves are stuffed with a batter of rice ground with cumin seed, red chillies, tamarind and a little jaggery and salt, and then tightly rolled and steamed. They are then sliced, smeared with a bit of chilli paste and shallow fried in ghee or coconut oil and served as a very filling snack. (The pathrode slices shown in the picture were yet to be fried). There are many variations of the pathrode. In one method, the leaves are chopped up finely and added to a thickish rice batter which is then steamed in thalis. The idli-like pathrode can be cut into cubes and dunked in a mutton or chicken curry. A plateful of this meat with pathrode curry is usually a satiating and filling meal in itself. Some communities use gram flour (besan) instead of rice.

The presence of calcium oxalate in these elephant-ear shaped leaves can cause an itching sensation in the mouth and throat. A considerable amount of tamarind is therefore used to counterbalance this effect while cooking colocasia leaves.

The stem of the plant, especially of the dark maroon variety, is used in a dish called allum dento that is cooked with green gram sprouts. This is a special dish during Monthi Fest, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, that Konkani Catholics of Dakshina Kannada celebrate with great pomp and fervour on September 8 each year. Traditionally, the festival repast comprises strictly vegetarian dishes, usually an odd number of items - either 7 or 9 - and the meal is served on plantain leaves. In the northern parts of the district, however, fish curry and fish fry are also part of the festive fare.   

What I used:

4 colocasia leaves

2 cups of red rice

6 red chillies

1 tsp cumin seed

Walnut sized ball of tamarind

3 tbsps of jaggery & Salt to taste

Carefully trim the leaves of their spines.

Soak the rice, preferably overnight and grind with all the other ingredients till fine. Be careful to add just enough water to make an easily spreadable batter, neither too thin nor too thick.

Lay the biggest leaf, smooth side down and evenly spread a thin layer of the rice batter on the entire leaf, right up to the edges. Place another leaf, smooth side down again, on top of the first leaf and repeat the process of applying the batter. Repeat this by layering two more leaves. Fold the bottom corners of the leaves and the tip towards the centre. Now start rolling it tightly into a roll from the side. Tie up the roll with kitchen twine and steam for about 20 minutes to half an hour.

When cool enough to handle, snip off the twine, slice the rolls and smear some chilli paste, like the kind used for fish fry, and shallow fry the pathrode slices in ghee, coconut oil or any other cooking oil. Garnish with a tempering of mustard and curry leaves and some freshly grated coconut if you like.

PS: If the process of grinding the rice deters you, the easier way is to use red rice flour, with red chilli & cumin powders and tamarind pulp. Dissolve the jaggery and salt in the water that you need to mix with the powders in order to obtain the batter. Though I love shortcuts and simpler ways of doing things, I haven't tried this method out, but I believe it works.

Kerala Melas!

WHILE on our way to Kovalam beach last month, we made a pit stop at this little wayside place called BRITISH RESTAURANT for a glass of steaming hot tea. Yes, a glass of tea, as against a cup of tea because it is invariably served in glasses in these thattukadas of Kerala. Practical. No frills and fuss.

Since I was keen to have tea in no other place than a thattukada, we stopped here. The tea was good as it always is in these thattukadas, sometimes with a smoky flavour...I remember that from previous visits. 

The story of Asokan who runs this place is indeed interesting. He has rehabilitated himself from being a small time drug peddler and now makes a decent and honest living, along with his ever eager-to-please partner, by cooking and serving meals. 

A fairly good part of Asokan's early life was spent in the UK, and hence the name of his little eatery. However, the British influence ends there, because the food served here is typically Kerala fare. Apart from English which he speaks fluently, he claims to have a knowledge of Italian and French as well.

British Restaurant is on Facebook and at the time of our visit boasted about 750 'Likes'. 

We were quite amused by the signboard which read KERALA MELAS.  It's from there that I was inspired use KERALA MELA as the title of my Kerala trip photo album that I've shared on Facebook.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Cookery is not chemistry. It is an art. It requires instinct and taste rather than exact measurements.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Marcel Boulestin

Instant Ragi Dosa

Ragi Dosa 

RAGI or finger millet widely grown in Karnataka, is also the staple cereal in the villages of the State. High in fibre and nutrients and a rich source of calcium, it is a versatile cereal that is used to make dosas, rotis, mudde, breakfast porridge and idlis. Bakeries have started supplying ragi bread in a big way which, alongside wholewheat bread, is preferred by diabetics to the white bread made from refined flour.

My mother-in-law used to make a drink called ragi malt, which was a watered down version of the ragi porridge that we all gulped down as a mid-morning beverage, if it can be called that. It sustained us in the gap between breakfast and lunch time and more importantly, stalled the temptation to indulge in unhealthy snacking in between. She also made ragi dosas for breakfast, following no particular recipe or proportion...just a mix of wheat and ragi flours. At times she simply added some ragi flour to leftover rice dosa batter to make ragi dosas or to regular wholewheat flour to make ragi-fortified rotis! Sometimes she added chopped onion, green chillies and green coriander leaves for added flavour and a hint of pungency. She always bought whole ragi grain, got it washed and thoroughly sun-dried before sending it to be powdered at the local mill. Just as she did with wheat that was cleaned and sun-dried before milling.

I found ragi porridge the perfect weaning food over Cerelac when I started my babies on semi-solids.   

My friend Geetanjali, who keeps experimenting with healthy food options had recently made delicious ragi laddoos and also light as air cookies from ragi.   

Ragi items with their dull brown colour don't look one bit appetizing...but I just think of the health quotient and try to include this cereal more often in our diet. Here I have adapted a ragi dosa recipe from an old newspaper clipping, that I often make for breakfast. The original recipe calls for soaking the ragi grains overnight and grinding them the next morning. But the most convenient option is to use readymade ragi powder that is available in all supermarkets and wholesale grain stores. 

What you need:

1 cup ragi flour

1/4 cup wheat flour

1/4 cup black gram dal (urad)

1/4 cup green gram dal (moong)

1/4 cup Bengal gram dal (channa)

1 tbsp fenugreek seeds (methi)

A little cooking oil to smear on griddle 
Salt to taste

Soak the three dals and the fenugreek overnight. Grind fine. Add the ragi and wheat flours and salt to taste. Add sufficient water to make a batter of medium consistency, like a rice dosa batter. You should be able to spread the dosa easily on a griddle. If too thick add more water. Leave aside for half an hour.  Spread a ladleful of the batter and fry as for dosas on a heated, greased griddle.
Serve with a chutney of your choice - coconut or onion or red chilli chutney.

PS:  Half a cup of beaten curd may also be added to the batter.

Pink Lady

Pink Lady (pic by June Carvalho)

A lovely, smooth cocktail for gin lovers with citrus flavours for the added pizzaz....grenadine for that hint of sweetness and the appetizing pink. Serve in stylish cocktail glasses and watch your friends go pink and cheerful with this one....cheers to the happy hours!

What you need:

40 ml Bombay Sapphire or any other gin 
20 ml Cointreau 
15 ml Lemon juice 
10 ml Grenadine
Ice cubes

Shake up all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Don't forget to wear a smile as you're doing it... strain into a chilled, sugar-frosted cocktail glass and serve.

• To chill a cocktail glass, fill it half way up with ice cubes and top with water. Discard water and ice before straining the drink into the glass.
• To frost the glass, rub the rim with a wedge of lemon dipped in grenadine and invert onto a plate of sugar to coat the rim.

Brinjal Gojju

THIS quick and easy wonderful brinjal gojju* recipe was shared with me by a friend and I've found that it's a hit with even those finicky types who otherwise detest the humble brinjal. It's goes great with chapathis. The toasted, crushed peanuts add a crunchy, nutritive element to the dish while a wee bit of jaggery balances out the flavours of brinjal, tomato, onion and spices.

Brinjal Gojju 

What you need:

500 gm brinjal, diced
1 cup diced tomato
1 cup diced onion
1 cup peanuts, roasted,
skinned & crushed
1 cup green coriander, chopped
3 tsps red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp jaggery, grated
1/2 cup cooking oil
Salt to taste

Tip all the above ingredients into a pressure cooker and cook under pressure (with weight on) for three minutes. Allow the pressure to drop completely before opening. Serve with chapathis.

*A gojju is typically part of Karnataka cuisine. It's essentially any vegetable, sometimes even a fruit like a pineapple, cooked with condiments that give it a balance of sweet, sour and spice. In the above recipe, tomatoes substitute for the usual tamarind as a souring agent.  

Modaks aka Kozhakattai

Modaks (Pic by June Carvalho)

MODAKS are a sweet treat (and I have an incurable sweet tooth) to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi in India.

It's a little round potli (a little parcel) made of rice flour with a sweet filling of jaggery, coconut and cardamom for flavour.

Modaks ready to be steamed (Pic by June Carvalho)

I was inspired to try them out for the first time on Sept 19, Ganesha festival day, thanks to my good friends, Shobha and Chitra, who specialise in vegetarian cuisine. 

I'm yet to perfect the art of shaping them beautifully, but taste-wise, they were excellent. 


Do check both my friends' website / blog for the recipe:

www.cookingwithshobha.com and www.chittiskitchen.blogspot.com