Alvati Konkani Recipe | Colocasia Leaves Curry | Alu Chi Bhaji

Alvati, popular and traditional konkani recipe

5 from 1 vote

Alvati Konkani Recipe | Colocasia Leaves Curry | Alu Chi Bhaji

Alvati is a very popular recipe from GSB Konkani cuisine that is spicy, tangy, and creamy with unique flavors prepared using colocasia leaves (taro leaves, tere paan).

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Goa, Gujarat, karkala, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mangalore, Udupi

Servings: people

Calories: 140kcal

Author: Kushi

Equipment

1 Pressure cooker
1 Mixie Jar or Blender

Ingredients

6 to 8 cups Young Colocasia leaves (Taro leaves), roughly chopped
3 Hog plums (ambado), crushed you can even use bimbul or star fruit
2 inch Ginger, chopped or crushed
3 Green chilies, slit
8 to 10 Cury leaves
¾ teaspoon Salt, to taste

For the coconut masala

2 cups Coconut (loosely packed)
3 to 4 Dry red chilies (For green color curry, reduce red chilies to 2)
1 to 2 tablespoon Chopped cashews

For the tempering

2 tablespoon Coconut oil
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
6 to 8 Curry leaves

Instructions

Pressure Cooking The Colocasia Leaves

Nicely wash the roughly chopped leaves and add them to the pressure cooker along with water and pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles. Even if you add more leaves, it is OK. The leaves are going to wilt when there are cooked. Check out the video here
6 to 8 cups Young Colocasia leaves (Taro leaves), roughly chopped
Let the cooker cool down and release the pressure naturally.
Open the lid, and now if you see that the water is more, transfer the excess water to another vessel and use it later in the curry only if needed.
Now using the whisk, nicely whisk the cooked leaves for a minute or two. Whisking will further break down the cooked leaves and make your dish smooth.

Make the Coconut Curry Paste

In a mixie jar or blender, add coconut, red chilies, and cashews with little water and blend it to smooth paste.
2 cups Coconut (loosely packed), 3 to 4 Dry red chilies, 1 to 2 tablespoon Chopped cashews

Making of Alvati

To the whisked colocasia leaves, add ginger, green chilies, curry leaves, coconut paste, crushed hog plums, and salt, and bring it to a nice boil. If you feel the gravy is too thick, only then add water or reserved water from before. Else skip.
2 inch Ginger, chopped or crushed, 3 Green chilies, slit, 8 to 10 Cury leaves, ¾ teaspoon Salt, to taste, 3 Hog plums (ambado), crushed
Bring it to a boil and simmer on a medium flame for 5 to 10 minutes so that the flavors are well combined.

Make the Tempering.

In a small pan, heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add curry leaves and saute for a few seconds.
2 tablespoon Coconut oil, 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds, 6 to 8 Curry leaves
Finally, add the tempering to the curry and switch off the flame.
Happy Ananth Chaturdashi to all of you!!

Notes

Temple-style Alvati is green in color. The colocasia leaves is cooked on a wood fire for 5 hours, and then the masala is added. For the masala, small round red chilies (gaongeri) are added instead of dry red chilies. This is the main reason the curry remains green, and that smoky flavor and creamy texture come from more prolonged cooking of leaves on low flame.

From the recipe above, What I have done differently today on Anant Chaturdashi to make it temple style is reduced the red chilies to 2, added extra green chile for heat, and some traditional food items like kirlu (bamboo shoot), bikkand (jackfruit seed)

Nutrition