Pans and Needles

Alu Wadi

Food Blogging Marathon # 32 D

Food Blogging Marathon from 2/9/2013 to 30/9/2013. Each day a new alphabet. 4 categories. Regional. International. Baked. Miscellaneous.

My first recipe is Regional.

Alu Wadi

These are made as a side dish in Maharashtrian homes as a fried recipe in a typical festival food or even as the full meal offered to the Gods. ( Naivadya)
Tamarind is very important as without it or with less of it the leaves may cause irritation in the throat. So be generous with the tamarind pulp.

6 leaves of alu/patra/arvi/colacassia leaves

1 cup besan
1 tbsp rice flour
1/4 cup thick tamarind pulp or tamarind to make pulp
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp green chilli paste
1 tblsp jagerry / brown sugar
1 tsp carom /ajwain / owa seeds
salt to taste
water as necessary
oil for frying

Method

Wash and dry the leaves. Remove the stalk. Cut and remove any thick and hard veins underneath but without tearing the leaves.

Soak tamarind in water to get about 1/2 cup of thick pulp. To the besan add rice flour, ginger paste, chilli paste, jagerry, carom seeds and salt to taste. Mix and add the tamarind pulp /paste and mix well. Add water to make thick batter. It should be slightly thicker than the bajji or idli batter.

Now take one leaf and place on clean and dry surface right side down. Spread the ready batter over it in a layer that is not too thick or too thin. Now cover it with a second leaf right side down and again spread the batter over this. Now take the third leaf, place it over the second leaf, right side down and spread batter over it.

Now comes the folding and rolling. Take the two shaped portions of the leaves and flip it on the main part of the leaf. Fold both sides a little to make a sort of rectangle. Now starting at the lower end roll fairly tight into a roll. Keep aside. Do the same with the next three leaves.

Steam these rolls in a steamer / idli pot or a sieve kept over boiling water for about 20 minutes. Lift out and keep it to cool.

Your alu wadis are ready. You can serve these in three different ways.

1) Cut them into half inch thick rolls and just temper with hot oil with mustard/rai seeds, cumin/jeera, sesame/till seeds and asefotida/hing. Sprinkle grated fresh coconut and chopped fresh coriander leaves.