Alu Vadi

Alu vadi has a very important place in traditional Maharashtrian cuisine. It is a popular snack prepared during traditional functions. It also makes for a good evening snack. Alu vadi is made from special Colocasia leaves that are mostly available during monsoons (during Chaaturmaas  - especially Shravan) in India. The tempering that I have done towards the end, is typically used by the Gujarati community while making Patra. In the traditional Maharashtrian method, the vadis are deep fried and not tempered.

Special thanks to my mom for teaching me this recipe.

Servings: 
Approx. 10 pieces

Ingredients :

3 large Colocasia leaves (Aluchi Paaney)

For the paste :
1 cup Chickpea flour (Besan)
1 & 1/2 tspn Red chilly powder
2 tspns Coriander-Cumin powder
1/2 tspn Asafoetida (Hing)
2 tspns Jaggery (grated)
6-7 tbspns Tamarind juice
Water as required
Salt to taste

For Tempering :
3 tbspns Oil
1 tspn Mustard seeds
1/4 tspn Asafoetida (Hing)
1 tspn Cumin seeds (Jeera)
2 tspns Seasme seeds
6-7 curry leaves

For Garnishing :
Scrapped Coconut
Chopped fresh Coriander leaves

Method :

To make paste :

Take chickpea flour in a mixing bowl. Add red chilly powder, corriander-cumin powder, salt, asafoetida, jaggery, tamarind juice and mix well. Then, add water as required to make batter of medium consistency (Pakoda batter consistency). Adjust spices / seasoning as per your taste.

For tempering :

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to it. Once the mustard seeds start spluttering, add asafoetida, cumin seeds, seasme seeds and curry leaves. Let it cool. 

To make Alu Vadi :

Wash and pat dry the Colocasia leaves. Remove the base stalk from the leaves. Also remove the other excess stalks on the leaves. Now run a rolling pin over the leaves to evenly flatten the leaves. 

Now take the largest leaf at the base. Ensure that the dark side of the leaf is kept at the bottom. Place the leaf over a flat surface. Apply thin layer of the paste over the leaf. Now take another leaf and place it such that its pointed side does not match with the pointed side of the leaf below (refer photo).  Apply the paste over it. Repeat the process for all the three colocasia leaves. 

Now fold the leaves lengthwise from all sides (refer photo) and keep applying the paste before making the next fold. Make sure that you make a tight roll. Now steam it in a steamer for 20-30 minutes. 

After steaming, allow it to cool. Then cut it into 1/2 inch pieces. Pour tempering over it before serving. Garnish it with fresh scrapped coconut and coriander leaves.

Notes :

1. In traditional Maharashtrian cuisine, the Alu-vadi is deep fried. However, you may shallow fry it to avoid excess oil. 

2. Avoid using more than three leaves for the roll as it will make it difficult to fold the leaves. 

Stepwise Pictures :