A Charcoal-Smoked Taro Leaf Delicacy from Assam
One of the many greens found in villages in Assam is taro (colocasia leaves). Simanta Barman shares an Assamese recipe for a side dish made with this green.
In our tiny village of Kharua in Assam, life seemed much slower as a child. There were paddy fields all around, a four-way chowk by an age-old banyan tree, and food habits that were quintessentially agronomical with very minimal access to packaged food. A meal would usually consist of home produce and fresh catch from the pond. Among the greens (seasonal and yearlong) we often had in our kitchen, a peculiar but beloved one was taro (Colocasia esculenta).
Taro’s leaf, root and corm (underground stem) make up for delicious curries, albeit with a pinch of caution; otherwise, you may risk irritation in your throat. We have an idiom in Assamese, Baator kosu gaat ghoha (Rubbing streetside taro to your body), which means bringing unnecessary trouble upon yourself.
Read: An Odia Steamed dish made with taro leaves.
Kosu Paat Patot Diya (also Kosu Paat Pitika/Patot Diya Kosu Paat) is a delicacy from the taro kingdom that the Assamese love as a side dish. It involves foraging for the tender taro/colocasia leaves found in people’s backyards or even in the corner of the street. A fistful is usually enough for a meal for four.
A quintessential rural Assamese dish, this side dish wafts nostalgia on a plate.
Recipe for Kosu Paat Patot Diya
Ingredients
9-10 tender shrunk taro leaves
Half-cut banana leaf to wrap it up
1 tbsp mustard oil
Salt, as per taste
2-3 chillies
1-2 slices raw mango/soaked dried garcinia for tanginess (optional)
Method
Prepare the banana leaf by heating on low flame a bit. This makes it tender and easier to wrap without breaking.
Cut the cleaned tender taro leaves evenly and stack these in the banana leaf
Add the chillies, salt and slices of raw mango/soaked dried garcinia.
Wrap it up nicely and bind it with a string of fibre from the banana leaf
Smoke slowly over charcoal until the leaf gets burnt while keeping the ingredients intact.
Let it cool for 15-20 minutes.
Open the leaf, take out the smoked taro leaves into a bowl. Add the mustard oil and mash gently.
Serve with a hot plate of rice and curries.
Simanta Barman is a freelance journalist based in Assam. He can be reached here.
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