Alvamande Saar Upkari.

Alvamande (Colocasia root / tuber) Saar Upkari With Losun Panna / Arvi Bhaji Seasoned With Garlic .......

Alvamande are root or tubers of colocasia leaves ie. Patrade leaves. They are also called Arvi in Maharashtra and some northern part of India.

As the Alvamande has lots of mud stuck to it, soak them in plenty of water in a large bowl for 5 – 10 minutes to loosen it. Once the mud get softened scrub and wash them in plenty of water till you find them clean. 

Further there are two methods you can follow to cook the Alvamande’s. You can either peel off the skin and cut the alvamandes and then cook them or just pressure cook them in pressure cooker and then peel off the skin. I follow the later method.

Put 8-10 cleaned alvamande in pressure cooker with enough water and pressure cook to 3-4 whistles. Remove and keep aside, let the pressure drop on its own. Once the pressure drops, open the lid and add keep the pan with the alvamandes under running water to cool it. Once cooled gently peel off the skin and cut the alvamande into 1 inch thick rings and keep them ready aside in a vessel.

Put the cooked alvamande and enough water in a vessel with salt to taste and bring to boil. Let cook till a bit mushy. With the back of the spatula gently crush the alvamandes a bit for the water to get thickened and mixed with alvamandes. Add in 3-4 green chillies chopped to pieces. Bring to a good boil. Remove and keep aside.

For seasoning : Heat 1 tblsp of oil in a small pan, when hot add 10-12 peeled and a little bit crushed losun / garlic and fry till light brown. When evenly browned add 2 red chillies broken to pieces (Optional) and mix well. Remove and pour over the curry. Cover with a lid.

Let the Saar upkari remained covered for 15-20 minutes for the garlic flavour to seep into the curry. Remove and boil for 5 minutes and serve hot with rice and any other bhaji with pappad as accompaniment. A simple saar upkari but tastes really good and is a healthy dish too.