Saru Patra Tarkari: A Classic Odia Dish Using Colocasia Leaves
Colocasia make an appearance in cuisines across India. In Odisha, colocasia leaves, called saru patra, are stuffed, rolled, steamed, stir-fried and finally added to a gravy.
Taro or colocasia has an understated presence in Indian cuisine. Across the length and breadth of the country, colocasia roots, leaves and stems are cooked in multiple ways. Tender taro leaves coated with gram flour and spices, and served as alu vadi, pathrode or patra across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh need no introduction. A lesser-known version of the patra or pathrode exists in Odia cuisine as well, and is best enjoyed during the monsoons when young colocasia plants dance amidst the rains, water droplets rolling off their heart-shaped hydrophobic leaves under an overcast sky.
Taro or colocasia is known as saru in Odia, and its leaves are referred as saru patra, where patra implies leaves. The roots of colocasia are readily used in Odia kitchens as well. It is indispensable, and often preferred to potatoes in many preparations, like santula (a low-spice, mixed vegetable dish), dalma (lentils cooked with root vegetables, gourds and other veggies like brinjal and beans), or ghanto (another mixed vegetable dish, usually featuring sprouts), and celebrated as saru besara where taro is cooked in a gravy of mustard paste.
Tarkari in Odia means a dish that contains some amount of gravy. The saru patra tarkari has stuffed, rolled, steamed and stir-fried colocasia leaves floating in a thin gravy of onions, tomatoes, ambula (mango kernels) and mustard.
Fresh tender leaves are washed and laid out on a flat surface, and the stalk is separated from the base of the leaf. A thick bata or paste is made in a number of ways — by grinding soaked rice grains, or grinding rice with urad dal (hulled black gram) or even just grinding urad dal alone — along with cumin, green chilies, and a souring agent like tamarind, which helps counter the itchiness of colocasia. In some regions, this stuffing varies slightly. Gram flour or rice flour is used instead of rice or urad dal, along with red chilies. Irrespective of the ingredients, the consistency of the bata should be thick enough to coat, and adhere, to the leaf surface. The leaves are then carefully rolled and steamed, to get rid of the excessive calcium oxalate that causes itching and irritation. The steamed leaves keep the filling in place and become easy to cut into discs, which are then shallow fried, before being dropped into a bubbling, and usually tangy, gravy.
The saru patra tarkari is also known as saru patra magura in some parts of Odisha, because the rolled leaves once cut into discs, resemble pieces of cat fish, known as magura in Odia. Along the coastal belt of Odisha, dishes using a mustard paste are typically called besara. So, saru patra tarkari is also called saru patra besara when it has a good measure of mustard in it.
While the origins of this dish are unclear, it is likely that its roots are rural and frugal. Saru has long been known as ‘gariba loka-ra aloo’ — the poor man’s potato. Although a water-intensive crop, colocasia grows abundantly, and yields well with weed control and hoeing. Practicing the philosophy of root-to-shoot-eating, farmers and other rural communities have always utilised fresh produce in its entirety, and understood the health benefits of plants long before the urban populace. Like pumpkin leaves, colocasia leaves become edible when cooked, and this knowledge is very likely to have come from rural populations who grow colocasia and live close to their fields. Saru patra is made into chutneys, and also cooked as a saga tarkari, where the leaves are cleaned, steamed and cooked, with other available vegetables. It is also used to wrap fish or vegetables like mushrooms, and roasted to create dishes like patra poda.
The process of making saru patra tarkari may seem intimidating, even time-consuming. Perhaps this is also the reason why people don’t make it often, and still fewer are aware of it. Thanks to my mother’s curiosity, this recipe made its way from our neighbour’s house into our kitchen, during my childhood. Over the years, we have experimented with different variations of stuffing. But, the rice and urad dal paste hold a special place in our hearts, over gram flour, and we always lean toward a tamarind filling, with a mustard-paste gravy.
Recipe: Saru Patra Tarkari
Ingredients
8-10 colocasia leaves or saru patra
2 medium-sized potatoes
½ tsp turmeric
1 ambula (dried mango kernel) or 1 large tomato, chopped
For the stuffing
1 cup rice and urad dal or 1 cup urad dal soaked overnight or at least 3-4 hours
OR
1 cup rice soaked for half an hour
Small ball of tamarind, soaked and its water extracted — tentuli manda
2-3 green chilies
½-inch ginger and 4-5 cloves of garlic (optional)
1 tsp cumin
Salt to taste
For the besara or mustard paste
2 tbsp black mustard seeds (or 1-part black and 1-part yellow mustard seeds)
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies
6 cloves of garlic (optional)
For the phutana or tempering
1 tbsp mustard oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1-2 dry red chilli
Method
Soak all ingredients mentioned for besara in water and keep aside.
Prepare the paste for stuffing and binding the colocasia leaves. Add all ingredients mentioned for stuffing along with minimum water to make a medium-thick paste. It should be flowy but not watery.
Rinse and clean the colocasia leaves and wipe off water using a kitchen towel. Cut off the stems from the base leaving a tiny portion on the leaf itself to avoid any holes.
Place a large leaf face down on a flat surface such that the veins of the leaves are on the surface and the tip faces you. Apply a portion of the paste on the leaf coating all parts. Now place another leaf on top of this coated leaf with its tip in the opposite direction. Apply paste on this leaf and repeat the process for 4-5 leaves.
Ensure that the strongest and largest leaves are on the outside and that the filling is applied everywhere.
Fold the stack of coated leaves away from you, rolling into a cylinder, starting from the tip and ending at the base of the leaf stack. To keep them together, you may seal them with toothpicks. Repeat the process for the remaining leaves.
Steam the leaf rolls for 15-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool them and then slice into discs – you will see concentric rings on the discs. Shallow fry with about 2 tsp oil in a pan or kadhai until crisp. Keep aside.
In the same pan or kadhai, add the remaining oil and let it smoke. Add ingredients for phutana, and then add sliced potatoes, turmeric and salt. Sauté, then cover and cook on medium flame till potatoes are cooked. Meanwhile, strain and blend the ingredients for besara with some water.
Now, add the besara and sauté for 30-40 seconds. If using tomatoes, add them now and cook until soft or add the ambula at this stage. Then add enough water, depending on the amount of gravy you want, and bring to a boil. Once the gravy is boiling and ready to be served, drop the crisp fried colocasia leaf roll slices. Switch off the heat and let the gravy simmer in its own heat. Serve with hot steamed rice.
Lopamudra Mishra is a communications professional currently based in Canada who writes a food blog, Away in the Kitchen filled with stories of her growing up and culinary experiences in different parts of India. You can follow her narratives here.
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