Alvamande Panna Upkari ~ Spicy Colocasia Roots Curry.

Alvamande Panna Upkari / Spicy Colocasia Roots / Tuber (Arvi) Curry ......... goes well with Rice / Roti / Poori / Dosa / Panpolo / Shevai etc. ..... Yumz .......

Alvamande is a konkani name for Colocasia roots also known as Arvi in Maharashtra. These are the very same roots of the patrade leaves from which we prepare patrodo. The whole plant is useful in cooking different dishes. The leaves are used for preparation of patrado or muddo, while the stem is also used in preparation of bhaji which is also known in konkani as venti. The roots as I mentioned are called alvamande and many curry dishes as well as fried or upkari dishes are prepared using the same. Guess this is one of the few plants that is consumed from roots / tuber to the top leaves. 

This one is a typical Amchi dish. All GSB / Konkani Saraswat Community are familiar with Panna Upkari prepared with either fish, veggies or tuber variety. It is a spicy curry enjoyed having with rice. It is usually prepared grinding chillies without coconut with the addition of only tamarind and coriander seeds, but I add in a little bit of coconut to get a little bit of more gravy in the curry as we like a little bit of gravy in our dishes at home. Actually, you can say I am partial towards coconut, as addition of little bit while grinding not only gives a volume to the gravy but imparts a lovely flavour and gives it a good texture. This dish can be served as a side dish with Dalitoy (spiced tuvar dal) and Rice or with roti. Goes very well with freshly prepared shevai or panpole too. Whenever I prepare shevai at home, I either prepare this curry or batate songa as an accompaniment to it. Tastes simply awesome. 

Ingredients :

Alvamande / Colocasia Roots ~ Tuber : 500 gms.

Coconut : ½ cup freshly grated.

Kashmiri Red Chillies : 15-20.

Coriander Seeds : 1 tsp.

Tamarind : Small lemon sized.

Onions : 2 large sized.

Red Chilly Powder : 1 tsp.

Salt to taste.

Oil : 4-5 tblsp.

Alvamande / Colcasia roots have a lot of mud sticking to their outer skin. So wash them in plenty of water till you run into clean water as you wash them. Wash and add about 500 gms of them into a pressure cooker with 2 cups of water. 

Pressure cook to two whistles on medium flame. Let the pressure drop on its own. Once the pressure drops, remove the lid and allow to cool completely under running water. Gently peel off the skin and then slice them to rings of ½ inch thickness. Keep this ready aside.

For the Masala : Grind to a fine paste ½ cup of freshly grated coconut with 15-20 red kashmiri chillies (Plus or minus as per individual taste), a small lemon sized tamarind and 2 tsp of coriander seeds (fried in oil to light red colour) with as little water as possible. Addition of more tamarind is done to remove the itchiness if any in Alavamande / Colocasia roots`tuber.

Heat 4-5 tblsp of oil in a thick bottomed vessel and add in 2 large sized onions finely chopped. Fry till they turn brown in colour, when browned, add in 1 tsp chilly powder and fry a bit. Addition of chilly powder is only to bring in the fiery red colour, you may leave out the step if you do not need it. 

Fry for a few seconds and then add in the ground paste, one cup of water, mix well and bring to a full boil. 

Add in salt to taste and the sliced Alvamande / Colocasia roots~tuber / Arvi and mix well. Bring again all to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes.

Remove, cover and keep aside for 15-20 minutes before serving them hot with Rice-Dalitoy or roti. You can serve this dish with panpole or shevai too which tastes awesome. You can also prpepare this curry and keep it overnight as the curry tastes even better the next day. Do try out this awesome recipe and leave a comment below, It really helps in knowing if you have liked the same. Also do mention if you have made in any changes too.