Alvamade Hummana (Hinga uddaka ghalnu randai)/ Colocasia Tuber Root Curry seasoned with Asafoetida.

"Alvamade Hummana (Hinga uddaka ghalnu randai)/ Colocasia Tuber/ Taro Root Curry seasoned with Asafoetida" ... A delicious simple curry with aromatic flavor of hing topped with coconut oil often prepared in GSB Konkani Saraswat's homes to be served with rice ... Yummilicious ....

** The beauty of a tree/ plant lies in its leaves, branches, flowers, fruits etc. but then its strength always lies in its roots ... the leaves, the stem and the roots of colocasia/ arvi/ taro plant are all edible and there are plenty of delicious dishes that are prepared out of the same, many of which are shared in the Blog ... Alvamande/ Arvi/ Colocasia/ Taro roots are loaded with health benefits and are definitely a pleasure to relish ... there are many recipes and this one is the most famous of them all.

** Here is the recipe for "Alvamade Hummana (Hinga uddaka ghalnu randai)/ Colocasia Tuber/ Taro Root Curry seasoned with Asafoetida" ... traditional GSB style ... do try it out and enjoy with family and friends ....

** Soak half a Kg of alvamade's/ arvi/ taro roots for 5-10 minutes in water, this helps to loosen the mud sticking to it. Then wash these with plenty of water till clean. Put it in the pressure cooker with water and cook for 1-2 whistles.

** Remove and let cool completely. Once the pressure drop's, remove the lid and drain off the water completely. Add plenty of cold water to cooked alvamandes or hold it under running water of tap till the alvamande's reach room temperature. This arrests further cooking/ softening of the arvi’s/ alvamande’s/ colocasia roots.

** Remove the outer skin which slips of very easily and then slice them to thick round rings or pieces of desired shape and size. Keep this ready aside while we prepare the curry. Some people slice/ peel off the outer skin with potato peeler, cut them to pieces and then cook them too, you may chose any method you wish, I follow the pressure cooker method.

** Masala to be Ground : Grind to a very fine paste 1 cup of freshly grated coconut/ soyi/ nariyal with 5-6 kashmiri dry red chillies (you can use any chillies that give good colour) and marble sized tamarind/ imly/ chinchama to a fine paste. Put it in a vessel and add water to bring in to required gravy consistency.

** Now boil the curry stirring often and once it comes to a full boil, lower the heat, add in the cooked arvi pieces, salt/ namak/ meeta to taste and cook till well done for about 5-10 minutes on low heat, stirring often.

** When the curry is cooked and done add one large tablespoon of prepared hing water (details given at the bottom of this curry*) and 1 tblsp of coconut oil (nariyal tel/ narlel tela) to the curry OR heat 1 tblsp of coconut oil, when hot add 1 tsp of hing powder and then pour over the simmering curry, cover and keep aside for 15 mins. for the flavors to all get well seeped into the curry and it's ready.

** "Alvamade Hummana (Hinga uddaka ghalnu randai)/ Colocasia Tuber/ Taro Root Curry seasoned with Asafoetida" is done and ready to be served. Tastes best served with rice, which is how it is served in most of the south Indian Konkani homes. Do give it a try and enjoy with your family and friends. 

** For Preparing of Hing/ Asafoetida Water From Gummy Hing : Hing water is prepared by putting a small marble sized gummy hing (available in South Indian Stores) into a glass bottle and adding about a small cup of boiled and cooled water to it. Within a few hours the hing will slowly melt and you will get a thick whitish liquid. This is hing water. You can keep this in the fridge and use sparingly as and when needed. We GSB / Saraswat Konkani people usually prepare the same and keep it in the fridge always and use the same for dal, patrado or any other humman etc. If you do not have the gummy hing, no issues, you can add hing/ asafoetida powder in which case always add it into the hot oil while tempering to get a good aroma as mentioned in recipe.