Pathrode

Today's post is about another Mangalorean dish, Pathrode. Its prepared using colocasia leaves that is usually grown in backyards of most of the houses in Mangalore region. Not all verity of the leaves are good for cooking as few of them tend to be itchy. One has to be careful in picking the right leaves. The plant would look as follows.



The leaves are cut leaving any stem in plant.

Ingredients

10-15 pathrode leaves
For Masala
1 cup Rice
4 tbls Coriander
2 tbls Jeera
2 tbsp Jaggry
5-6 chords of red chillies
Salt as per taste
1/2 lemon size Tamarind
1 pinch of Turmaric
1 cup grated coconut

Method

1. Wash the leaves and remove any thick veins in the back of the leaves using knif.
2. Soak the rice in water for 4-6 hours.
3. Grind all of above mentioned ingredients (except the leaves) to chutney/spread consistency.
4. Keep leaf upside down (softer and light colored side down) and smear a layer of masala on upper side (side with visible veins).
5. Keep second leaf on top of this in the same direction and spread another layer of masala. Repeat this for 3-4 leaves.
6. Now pathrode is ready for rolls. Firstly fold the sides of the leaf towards the center and then roll along length of the leaves to make a roll.
7. Step #4 and #5 is repeated for multiple bunch of leaves (3-4 leaves in each bunch).











8. The rolls will look as shown in the above picture. Now steam these rolls in for about 15 mins.
9. Wait till the pathrode cools down a bit before cutting them into smaller cylindrical pieces

These can be served hot with oil (use Coconut oil for authentic Mangaloren flavour). I like it best with honey as it gives mixsture of spicy/tangy and sweet taste to it.



Other well know variation of the same is to chop these rolls into smaller pieces and make usili of the same. You would need following ingredients to make usuli. The measurement here are appropriate for single roll of length 6-inches.

Ingredients

2 tsp coconut oil (any refined oil will do)
1 tsp of Chana Dal
1 tsp of urad dal
10 leaves of curry leaves
2 stp mustard
2 tblsp Grated coconut (optionl)

Method

1. Prepare seasoning/tadka with chana dal, urad dal, curry leaves and mustard.
2. Add chopped pathrode and fry it for about 2 mins
3. Finally add some grated coconut and fry it for addition 2 mins.

Serve it hot as it is.

Notes
- Tamarind helps in beating itchiness in pathrode leaves. It would be better to wash leaves in tamarind water as an additional step to handle itchiness in the leaves.
- While steaming in cooker, don't use weight as it has to be steamed without pressure