Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Chembu/ Arabi - Buttermilk Sabji, and Tag 2

Ever since I read this post by Sunshinemom, I have been wishing to lay my hands on Arabi (Taro corms/ Colocasia / Chembu in Malayalam/ Chemadampa in Telugu), and post this recipe.

Vegetable shopping is reserved for weekends at my place and I had to be patient. This recipe is a variation of my mother's; she makes it a full-fledged gravy curry with coconut as a base, while I like it without the gravy, or rather semi-dry, if I can call it that. In my version, I also omit the coconut.

To make the Arabi Sabji seen in the picture, you will need:

Arabi - washed (better scrubbed with a vegetable scrub brush) - 1/2 kg

Buttermilk - 1/4 cup (Not the very thin buttermilk got after adding water; just blend 2-3 tbsp of fresh curd with less amount of water for 3-5 minutes and separate cream on top, if any)

Green chilly - sliced - 1
Ginger-Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Curry leaves - 2 strands
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Jeera/ Cumin seeds powder - 1/2 tsp
Methi/ Fenugreek seeds powder - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/4-1/2 tsp (per taste)
Coconut - grated - 1/2 cup (optional)
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method Without Coconut:

  • Steam the washed arabi in a steamer (or along with rice, if using rice cooker) until knife-tender (I always use a knife for this purpose!) and leave to cool and dry
  • Peel the skin, and cut into slightly thick circles, and mix the pieces in the buttermilk with salt
  • Heat oil in a pan and temper mustard seeds, toss in the curry leaves, green chilly, ginger-garlic paste, and turmeric, jeera, methi powders
  • Roast the powders on low flame for a minute, and add the vegetable in buttermilk
  • Keep stirring on low flame until semi-wet/ dry, without separating
  • Sprinkle the pepper on top and leave on hot stove until serving time

Method With coconut:

  • Grind the grated coconut along with turmeric, jeera, methi powders
  • After tempering mustard seeds in oil, and adding curry leaves, green chilly, ginger-garlic paste, add the coconut paste and stir well
  • Add the steamed, peeled, and cut vegetable into the paste, mix well and leave covered for 3-5 minutes
  • Finally, add the buttermilk (if you wish to have more gravy curry, use 1/2 cup buttermilk), and stir until slight boil on low flame, without the buttermilk separating
  • You can add pepper at the end to the curry

Serve with rice, chapathi

Wait, there's more! I have been tagged twice in the same week.

Rashmi has tagged me.

Before I get to the Qs and answer them, the rules for this tag are as follows:

"At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 or 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read my blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers."

1.What was I doing ten years ago?
A. Studying in college as a second year engineering student!

2. Five things on Today's "To do" list
A. Decide what to make for breakfast tomorrow, Organise daughter's room and cupboard (again!), Call a friend, Read the recent copy of Outlook, and Publish this post!

3.I am addicted to :
A. Rice, I can't sleep without eating a little rice at night!; Checking my email, orkut, and this blog atleast twice a day

4.Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
A. Travel the world, buy books and read, and put rest of the money in a bank

5. Places I have lived:
A. Kannur, Muscat, Trivandrum (if stay in hostel for 3 months is living!), Hyderabad, Mumbai

I would like to pass on this tag to Bharti, Illatharasi, Purva, Valarmathi, and Vegetable Platter.

37 comments:

Illatharasi said...

I too cooked colacasia fry in the morning;) Your recipe is a new way to try :)

Thanks Shreya for tagging me:)
I recently did this @ my other blog

http://creationsss.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-was-tagged.html

Checkout for the answers and I will highlight this in my post tomorrow in my food blog too :)

Bharti said...

Thanks for thinking of me Shreya..I'm a terrible procrastinator. I'll really try to do it. Arbi looks yummy!

Unknown said...

i never heard of buttermilk in arvi sabji.. its knew to me... looks gud..

Nic said...

Gosh, lots of interesting ingredients here. I love this kind of cooking and will be back to have a long browse around!

A_and_N said...

The Arbi looks well separated, and hence really delicious ;) Sounds tangy along with buttermilk!

Indian Khana said...

Nice recipe ...enjoy reading your tag too..inbtw how r u feeling now?

amna said...

havent cooked with colocasia yet. shud try but i think i will choose the version with coconut :)

test it comm said...

ThHat sounds tasty!

Andhra Flavors said...

i heard first time the name arabi.
but it should be tangy along with buttermilk.

Indranee Batabyal said...

Thanks Shreya,this buttermilk sabzi looks yummy too! Loved reading your tags:)

Purva Desai said...

hey!!
I was planning to make any kind of gravy from Colacosia.....will try ur version, looks really tempting.

Thanks for tagging :)

Sharmila said...

Hi!Thanks for leaving nice words on my blog. You have some very nice recipes here. And I love the pic on your blog header. :-)

notyet100 said...

looks delicious,..nice colour too

bha said...

nice colacasia fry....shreya. Nice MeMe to read

ST said...

looks delicious and yummy.....I make different way.Will try ur version this time......

Swati said...

Coconut in arbi sounds interesting.. I make it differently and will surely try this sometime..

Anonymous said...

Hi Shreya, thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I came to check our your space:) You have a great blog and there is a lot I can learn from you. Some of the ingredients you use are totally new for me so it is a great way to be exposed to them:) I just subscribed to you to read more from you.

I have never seen this dish before neither I hvae tried it but it looks and sounds pretty interesting.

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

An interesting dish! Surely delicious!

I'd do the same things if I were a billionaire ;-P!

Cheers,

Rosa

Chef Jeena said...

Looks very delicious. :-)

Mama Mia said...

mothers dishes are always the best!

Unknown said...

sounds heavenly! i should find all the spices first though ^_^

Seema said...

Nice Arbi recipe. Looks great. Nice MeMe!!

Anonymous said...

Wow the arbi dish looks awesome! You know even I need some rice with my food otherwise I cant sleep :)

Adam said...

Nice pictures. I would have to vote for the dish WITH coconut. I bet it just adds that little something.

Addicted to rice? Well at least that's easy enough to make :)

Sum Raj said...

hai....urs looks deliicous sherya....i have tagged u but just now i have seen i have already tagged....its ok....

ST said...

The magic lamp of luck!!! is waiting for u at my blog.....

Medhaa said...

this is completely new to me. And you have a great blog in such a short time.

Ramya Bala said...

Wow...Buttermilk in arbi sounds great dear

Shreya said...

Hi everyone, thank you all so much for the lovely comments! :-)

Indian Khana said...

Hey you have been tagged with .... MAGIC LAMP OF LUCK!

Dee said...

Shreya, all your dishes look so exotic and yummy! You know, I don't think I've ever cooked with taro. Sad, isn't it :(

Dee said...

Shreya, bookmarked this , i really found it interesting.. will let you know how it comes out!! - Dee of Ammalu's kitchen

Happy Ginni said...

I am not much of a blogger, but i desparately needed a new recipe for cooking arbi -- and there couldn't have been anything more refreshingly different than your recipe. Thanks! I am off to try it out...it's almost lunch time now.

Anonymous said...

hi,i tried making it wid buttermilk,n u know what..it was the best thing i would have ever eaten!thanks!

madhura lalasa said...

Recently I visited Kerala, and my hosts cooked small colacasia like roots, in telugu we call chema dumpalau, they are not actually chemadumpalu.

In Kerala they are called Koorka, and they are with out usual stickiness of chema dumpalau.
They tasted good. I bought a few roots and planted them in my garden.My wife instantly called them chinna chema dumpalu, and made a fry of those roots.

Did you ever hear about them? can you suggest some recipes with that?

Shreya said...

@Anonymous - thanks for trying it out!:-)

Shreya said...

@madhura lalasa - I have emailed you, please check and let me know if you have any questions. thanks..