COLOCASIA CRISPY CURRY

 

 

It had been almost twenty days since I purchased col cassia. Much like potatoes, this too is a staple vegetable and hardly needs refrigeration. I finally decided to prepare a deep-fried snack—varuval, as we call it in Tamil. While skimming through my recipe collection, I had bookmarked one version of this deep-fried method, but it felt a little too fiery with its long list of spices.

My mom then suggested a simple version, one that was often made in my granny’s household. It sounded perfect, and I decided to follow that instead. I made one small tweak, though,replaced the chilli powder with kulambu milagai thool (my love for this spice blend is evident, isn’t it?). The batter was very similar to the one we use for fritters, and cornflour can easily be swapped for gram flour if preferred.

The result was delicious—crisp, flavourful, and comforting. It works wonderfully as a snack or starter, but I thoroughly enjoyed it with soppina huli / greens lentil sambar.

 INGREDIENTS :

 

COLOCASIA - 10 NOS

SALT TO TASTE

GRAM FLOUR--6 TSP

RICE FLOUR - 2 TSP

KULAMBU MILAGAI POWDER- 2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER- 1/4 TSP

ASAFOETIDA- 3/4 TSP

CHILLI POWDER- 1 TSP

CURRY LEAVES- 1 SPRIG

OIL FOR FRYING 

 

PROCEDURE :

 

1.Wash colocasia and steam in pressure cooker along with the peel for one whistle.Don't cook for long time as the veggie will turn mushy.

 

2.On cooling,remove the peel and chop it into thick roundels and keep it aside.

 

3.In a wide bowl add gram flour,rice flour,chilli powder,kulambu milagai powder,salt,1 tsp oil,turmeric powder,asafoetida,curry leaves,water and whisk to smooth batter.The batter shouldn't be thick.

 

4. Drop the roundels in the slurry and marinate for ten minutes.

 

5.Meanwhile heat oil in a pan,check if the oil reaches the right temperature by dropping a small drop of batter,if it pops up immediately,then the oil is ready for frying.

 

6. Now drop the coated veggie in the oil and maintain medium heat while frying.

 

7.When the veggie is fried,you see the bubbling sound subsides and you can take out fried pieces from the pan.