Palak Pathrodo ~ A twist to the original !!

I dislike Palak.
Ajay dislikes Pathrodo.
We l♥ve Palak Pathrodo.

That in short sums up the taste of the dish.Pathrodo,according to me is every Konkanis favorite food-barring Ajay and a few unlucky souls:).Majority of the people dislike the itchy feeling rather than the dish itself.If the leaves are not cooked well,by the time you eat the first piece,you’ll be searching for a brush,to itch the insides of your mouth..LOL.

I for one,enjoy eating pathrodo-all forms of it-freshly cooked,roasted,in curries or fried,never mind the itch.As a pathrodo loving soul,I did search for Taro leaves in Chennai but in vain.Let’s just say I am apprehensive of picking/plucking them from a road-side.Quite different story in Ernakulam actually.People sell bunch of taro leaves for a price and there are many[not surprisingly] takers for it.

A recently opened supermarket[in Ekm] even has this on their food rack along with pastries,tarts and muffins-no kidding.

Though the size of the Palak leaves are no comparison to the gigantic size of taro leaves,I can assure the taste is almost the same but without the itch.Thanks to this,we started eating palak,otherwise greens are something I cook once in a …. [very loooong time!]

I used the same recipe for the batter as Pathrodo.Which reminds me that I still do not have the recipe for Pathrodo here.Soon,I promise.I have to make a trip to Ernakulam for that,remember!!

Palak Pathrodo

Ingredients

Palak/Spinach leaves – one bunch

For the ground paste

Rice – 1 cup,soaked for 2-3 hours
Grated coconut – 2/3 cup
Red chillies – 5-6
Tamarind – one small pea sized lump
Hing/asafoetida – 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

Wash the leaves well and arrange them according to their size[this helps later when you smear them with the paste].

Grind the masala-first grind the coconut,red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste.
Then add the soaked rice and blend again till you get a smooth paste-the batter would be quite thickish.
Add hing and salt to taste.

Place a palak leaf on a plate and smear with the ground paste.

Place another leaf on top and continue the process with 6-8 leaves,alternating between medium and small leaves.
Roll it well and tie a thread around to secure the leaves in place.

Steam for about 20-25 minutes.

Remove the thread.
Serve it hot drizzled with a drop of coconut oil.

I refrigerated 2 leftover rolls and the next day,sliced them into thin rounds and roasted them on a low flame using coconut oil,till brown on both sides.Tastes super good!! If there is leftover batter[like I had] you can add chopped cabbage to it and make Cabbage-aa Undi/muddo.

Update- There is absolutely no bitter aftertaste to this and it turns out to be as soft as the taro leaves version!!

Check out this- a step by step method to make Pathrodo.

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