Cheppankizhangu Karamadhu- (Colocasia Curry) - Iyengar style

Colocasia or Taro root family is a common vegetable in many cuisines. I thought it is common only in Chinese and Indian cuisines for I used to get this vegetable in the asian market in US. However, after reading the article in Wikipedia, on this vegetable, I was amazed to find out how popular it is all around the world, especially Brazil, Africa and Hawaii.

In India, it is popular all the way from North to the South. It is usually deep or shallow fried or made into a dish similar to mash potatoes after cooking it well. Due to its astringency, it is usually preferred to be cooked with tamarind (or lemon).

As given in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taro

"In other Indian states, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, taro corms are known as sivapan-kizhangu (seppankilangu or cheppankilangu), chamagadda, or in coastal Andhra districts as chaama dumpa in Telugu, and it can be cooked in many ways, such as deep fried in oil for a side item with rice, or cooked in a tangy tamarind sauce with spices, onion, and tomato"

I am going to share with you my mother in law's recipe that my husband loves. It is simple to make and is healthier in that it doesn't use that much oil. Also, cooking it so, doesn't bring out much of the astringency you note with the vegetable.

Cheppankizhangu Karamadhu

Ingredients
Cheppankizhangu (Colocasia/Taro root) - 1 kg
Tamarind paste - 2-3 Tbsp
OR Fresh Tamarind - 1/4 cup  
Bengal gram (Chana dal) - 1 Tbsp
Black gram (Urad dal) - 1 Tbsp
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp
Turmeric - 1-2 tsp
Red Chilli - 3-4
Asafoetida - 1 tsp 
Oil - 1-2 Tbsp
Curry Leaves - 3-4
Water - 2 cups 

Directions
Wash the Cheppankizhangu well to remove dirt and put into a dish to cook well in the pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles. Add salt and turmeric powder to the root with 1 cup water. In contrary, you can cook it on stove top similarly, but the root needs to become very soft. Pressure pan cooking saves energy and time. 

Peel the skin off the root and cut into pieces. In a pan, heat oil, add the bengal and black gram, and the mustard seeds. Once the seeds sputter add the curry leaves and asafoetida and the red chillies. After the red chillies are saute (10-20 sec), add the cut taro root and tamarind paste dissolved in water (1/2 cup) and mix the entire batch well so the tamarind juice is mixed well with taro root and spices.

You can add 1/2 cup more of water (as needed) along with salt. Let it simmer and cook for 5-10 min in low heat. Serve it hot with Rice as side dish to any lentil soup that is not sour such as plain dal or Kootu or Molagootal (A typical Pallakkad Iyer recipe from Kerala, that I will share shortly).

Tips: If the taro root is cooked too much, it will become a mashed mass (like the one in the photo). If you prefer it as individual pieces, you just cook it less (less whistles in pressure pan), so the individual pieces (cut round) remains in this tamarind soup. The root is slimy and so it appears stringy (natural).