Colocasia leaves or Taro leaves are edible too apart from its roots.These are widely consumed in India as well as in South East Asian countries.It is a nutritionally dense leafy vegetable in terms of minerals and vitamins,but need to be processed properly before consumption as it contains certain irritants which may cause discomfort to the lips ,mouth and throat.The preparations of Colocasia leaves vary from region to region and the crispy pinwheels of Colocasia leaves is a scrumptious one.It can be eaten as an appetizer and can very well be kept as a side dish .

Recipe

Ingredients:

• 20 fresh and tender colocacia leaves
• 1 cup besan/ chick pea flour
• 1/2 cup rice flour
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black pepper corns
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp carom seeds/ajwain
• 1/2 tsp hing powder/asafoetida
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp mango powder or 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 7-8 fat garlic cloves / optional
• Oil for shallow frying

Method:

• Wash colocasia leaves and pat dry with kitchen towel.
• Trim the stalk of the leaves and segregate the leaves according to the size.
  

  

  
• Grind together cumin seeds,pepper corns,carom seeds,chili powder,hing powder,salt ,mango powder/lemon juice along with garlic into a fine paste.
• In a mixing bowl mix besan,rice flour and the ground paste of spices.Add little water and mix it well till a smooth paste is ready.Adjust the salt according to the taste.
  

  

  

  

  
• On the clean kitchen counter spread the bigger leaf upside down.
• Apply a thin layer of paste all over the surface of the leaf.Top this leaf with another leaf little smaller in size and smear the paste.Repeat the process of layering till you get the desired thickness of the roll on rolling.About 7-8 leaves will be required to prepare the roll.
• Fold in the opposite edges  and prepare the tight roll of the leaves.
  

  

  

  

  
• Prepare all such rolls in similar manner and steam them in a steamer till they are fully cooked till the core.To check this you may slice from one end of the roll and can check whether it is cooked till the center or not.
  

  

  
• Once all the rolls are cooked ,let them cool down.
• Once they have cooled down,slice them into 1/2″ -3/4′ thick pieces.
• Shallow fry them in hot oil till they are crispy.They can also be consumed steamed.
• Serve them as a starter or as a side dish along with the meal.

Notes:

• Lemon juice or mango powder is added to remove the irritation caused by needle like raphides of calcium oxalate monohydrate and in part by another chemical,probably a protease present in the leaves.Thus the quantity of lemon juice or mango powder can be increased or decreased as per the need.
• This dish tastes best when the leaves used are tender.

Enjoy ! And taste the crunch till I am Back!

Till then Happy Cooking!!!