Gujarati Patra / patrode / alu vadi
A traditional steamed healthy snack made of colocasia leaves rolled with a tangy, sweet and spicy chickpea flour paste and finished with tempering of sesame seeds and curry leaves.
Roaming through the wet markets in Singapore, I was suddenly taken back to my childhood when I spotted a peculiar shaped bunch of greens popping at me amongst many other greens. It was a familiar shape but why were the leaves so small? ‘Aunty’ mistook my curiosity and started to tell me how delicious it tastes when stir fried with garlic and chilly. I plunged in and bought a bunch of heart shaped vivid green leaves. Sorting through the leaves and a bit of google search told me that they were not the colocasia leaves I have eaten but sweet potato leaves that the Chinese use to make a delicious stir fry. But for me, it was meant to be eaten as patra. I must say, it tasted no different than what I have grown up eating. And I am fairly certain, it would taste equally good with spinach as well.
And for me, it has invoked so many memories…taste of that crispy patra, smell of the roasted sesame seeds and the sight of my mother rolling each roll so methodically. I can visualize my mother sitting down on the kitchen floor, painstakingly smearing the chickpea flour paste on each and every leaf. She would arrange the leaves keeping the largest at the bottom and finishing with four layers, fourth layer being the smallest in size. Her quick efficient moves would soon have her gone through all the leaves in no time. Small bundles would be then arranged in a steamer waiting for us to relish them soon. The smell of sizzling sesame seeds and crispy curry leaves would awaken our senses bringing us in the kitchen for that first bite of patra…yum!
It is definitely not a dish that you can call it quick. It’s a methodical dish and time consuming but the wait is worth it. Sorting the leaves, cleaning and drying the leaves is a process one needs to do with patience as the leaves are fragile and can tear. And then it’s all about learning the skill of smearing the paste and rolling the leaves correctly. I have therefore given pictorial steps in my recipe and I hope you enjoy making them as much as I do.
If you liked this recipe, do check few other Gujarati recipes too:
Recipe Card
Gujarati Patra / patrode / alu vadi
Recipe Rating
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Gujarati
PREP TIME
45 mins
COOK TIME
25 mins
SERVINGS
3 – 4 portions
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Gujarati | Category: Snacks
Prep Time: 45 mins | Cook Time: 25 mins | Servings: 3 – 4 portions
A traditional steamed healthy snack made of colocasia leaves rolled with a tangy, sweet and spicy chickpea flour paste and finished with tempering of sesame seeds and curry leaves.
Ingredients
- 10 colocasia leaves
- For the besan/chickpea flour paste:
- 2 cups chickpea flour
- ¼ cup grated jaggery
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp of coriander cumin powder
- Pinch of garam masala
- 3 tbsp of lemon juice
- A paste of 2 green chili, half inch of ginger and 3 cloves of garlic
- Salt to taste
- Water to make a paste
- For tempering:
- 3-4 tbsp of oil (preferably peanut oil)
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 2 tsp sesame seeds
- 10-15 curry leaves
- 1 dry red chilly (optional)
- Grated coconut for garnishing
Method
- Cleaning the leaves:
- Sort the leaves by their size and remove the hard parts of the stem.
- Gently scrape off any hard vein that would affect the rolling of the leaf.
- Wash and dry them gently as they are delicate and can tear easily.
- Prepare the chickpea flour paste
- Combine all the ingredients listed under paste.
- Add just enough water to make it into thick paste.
- Rolling the leaves:
- On a big plate or a clean counter, place the bigger sized leaf (the shiny side will be facing downwards) and spread the paste.
- Put a smaller leaf over the bigger leaf but this time keep the heart shaped leaf tip upwards.
- Spread the paste over the second leaf as well.
- Choose a third leaf (smaller than the second) and place it so that the tip faces you and smear it with the paste.
- Fold the leaves 2 inch from both the sides and smear with the paste again.
- Start to roll from the bottom of the leaves going upwards, securing the roll tightly at the end with the paste again.
- Place the ready roll on a greased steamer plate while you repeat the process with the other leaves.
- Prepare your steamer pan and steam the rolls for 15 minutes on a high flame.
- Remove and cool them completely.
- Gently, cut each roll in approximately 2 cm rounds.
- Tempering of the patra:
- In a pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds.
- When they crackle, add sesame seeds, dry red chili and curry leaves and immediately put a lid on top.
- After 20 seconds, open the lid and place patra to saute it gently
- Cook on a low flame till the edges of patra turn crispy.
- Garnish with coconut
- Serve hot or at room temperature with green chutney or chundo, a sweet and sour mango chutney.
Notes
- Put little water at a time to make the chickpea flour paste. Too much water can make the paste runny and therefore won’t spread on the leaves.
- If you can’t find colocasia leaves, sweet potato leaves or spinach works as well. The number of rolls will depend on the size and the number of the leaves you have used.
- Buy colocasia leaves with brown stem as against the green stem. Green stemmed leaves can give a tingling sensation in the throat and need more souring agents while preparing the rolls.
- Sesame seeds and curry leaves splutter all around when added to the hot oil. I would suggest keeping the lid handy and covering the pan as soon as you put them in.
- Instead of sautéing , patra can be deep fried as well which makes it super crunchy and delicious.
- Though patra do not freeze well, you can enjoy the snack if kept in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Did you make this recipe? Follow me on Instagram handle @acookwithin or @acookwithin on Facebook.
www.acookwithin.com
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