Alu vadi or pathrode recipe With step by step photos – alu vadi also known as patra is stuffed rolled colocasia leaves snack that is popular in both Maharashtrian and Gujarati cuisine.
In hindi, these leaves are called as Arbi ke patte. in marathi, colocasia leaves are known as Alu or aloo. whereas in hindi Alu or aloo is the term for potatoes. This recipe has no resemblance to anything potatoes 🙂 This alu vadi recipe is also known as pathrode.
How to make patra recipe
- To make patra, the taro root leaves are smeared with a sweet, spicy and tangy besan or gram flour paste and stacked upon each other.
- They are then rolled and steamed. The steamed rolls are then tempered or fried.
- You can make these rolls a day before and then temper or fry them the next day. I prefer the tempered ones. However you can also deep fry or shallow fry the rolls.
- When making patra or alu vadi always use fresh leaves which are not itchy. The itchiness is due to the presence of calcium oxalate crystals and can be pretty itchy to the hands and to the throat & tongue too. So before making the patra, just check for the itchiness. You can ask your vegetable vendor before buying them.
- The same recipe can also be made with large spinach leaves. So you can substitute spinach leaves with taro root leaves.
These stuffed rolls are served plain or with green chutney. They make for a nice tea time snack as well. Since fresh colocasis leaves or taro leaves are easily available in the monsoons, you can try making this snack at home or for Ganesh Chaturthi festival. if you like recipes with colocasia leaves, then you can make two more recipes with them:
I have given Extensive step by step pics for this patra recipe. the preparation looks daunting, but not difficult.
How to make alu vadi or patra or pathrode recipe
1. Take all the ingredients for the gram flour batter in a mixing bowl. This includes all the spice powders, ginger-green chili paste, gram flour and salt.
2. Add the powdered jaggery and tamarind pulp.
3. Stir well and make a very thick batter or paste. Keep aside.
Preparing colocasia leaves for patra recipe
4. Rinse and dry the leaves with a kitchen napkin.
5. Slice the stalk from the base of the leaf.
6. Place the leaf with the veins facing you and slice the middle vein right through the center, taking care not to break the leaf. Remove any other thick veins from the sides too. Keep all the leaves ready like this. instead of using knife (as it might tear the leaf if not used properly) you can also use a belan ( i.e a rolling pin) and gently roll it on the leaves. This will flatten the veins and leaf will not get cut. You can adjust the pressure as per the thickness of the vein.
Making patra
7. Place the leaf with the vein sides facing downwards and the tip facing you. Apply the besan paste. Before beginning to roll, sort the leaves and place the largest one at the bottom and continue to keep the medium and smaller ones as you stack them up.
8. Now place another leaf with the tip in the opposite direction. Placing the leaves in the opposite direction helps them to roll easily.
9. Apply the besan paste on the second leaf.
10. Completely cover the leaf with the gram flour paste.
11. Now place a third leaf with the tip facing you…
12. and apply the paste on this leaf too.
13. Finish off all the 10 leaves this way. Now fold the leaf from one side as shown in the pic below.
14. Apply the besan paste to the folded side and fold from the opposite side also. Apply besan paste to this second folded side too.
15. Begin to tightly roll the leaves and keep on apply the besan paste with each fold on the top.
16. Almost finished rolling the stack of leaves.
Steaming patra
17. I made two rolls from two batches of 20 leaves. Each roll had 10 leaves. Place these rolls in a greased steamer pan. Steam for 20-25 minutes in a steamer or pressure cooker without the vent weight or whistle.
18. The leaves and the besan paste would be completely cooked and the rolls would hold shape and become firm after cooking.
19. When warm or cooled, slice the rolls into 1/2 inch thickness.
Tempering for patra
20. Heat oil in a pan or kadai. Add the tempering ingredients and fry for a few minutes.
21. Add the sliced colocasia rolls and saute in the oil on a low flame for few minutes.
22. Switch off the flame and lastly add some grated coconut and coriander leaves and give a gentle stir.
23. Serve the alu vadi or patra hot or warm. you can also garnish the alu vadi with coconut and coriander instead of mixing them with the rolls.
If you are looking for Maharashtrian recipes then do check:
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Alu Vadi
Ingredients
main ingredients
- 20 medium sized colocasia leaves or taro root leaves or arbi ke patte
for alu vadi batter
- ½ inch ginger + 1-2 green chilies - made into a paste in mortar-pestle
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1.5 tablespoon seedless tamarind (imli) soaked in ¼ cup water
- 2.5 cups besan (gram flour or chickpea flour)
- 3 to 4 tablespoon powdered jaggery or as required
- ½ to 1 teaspoon oil (optional)
- salt as required
- water as required
for tempering alu vadi
- 2 to 3 teaspoon sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida powder (hing)
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- ¼ cup grated fresh coconut
- 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
Instructions
preparation to make alu vadi
- Soak the tamarind in 1/4 cup water for 30 mins.
- Rinse the taro leaves well and wipe them dry.
- Prepare them as shown in the pics below like removing the central vein and stalks etc.
making alu vadi batter
- Now squeeze the tamarind directly into the water and extract the pulp.
- Take all the ingriedients for the batter in a mixing bowl.
- Add the tamarind pulp and mix well to make a thick batter.
- Add some water if required.
- Check the taste and add more salt or powdered jaggery if required.
- The batter has to be really thick.
making alu vadi
- For the first roll use 10 leaves and for the second roll use remaining 10 leaves.
- Now spread the batter on each leaf and arrange them as shown in the above pics.
- Roll the edges vertically and spread some batter on them.
- Now roll horizontally and tightly.
- Keep on applying the batter on each fold as you roll.
steaming alu vadi
- Place the rolls on a greased steamer pan.
- Steam the rolls for 20-25 minutes.
- When warm or cool, slice them and temper them. or you can deep fry them and serve with green chutney.
making tempering alu vadi
- For tempering heat oil in a pan. pop the mustard seeds first.
- Then add the sesame seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida. saute for a few seconds.
- Then add the sliced rolls and saute till they get browned.
- You can also just pour the tempering mixture on the sliced rolls.
- Sprinkle grated coconut and coriander leaves on the alu vadi or patra and serve hot or warm
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Yummmmmmmy…
N easy to make…
You are perfect in receipe. I usually visit your website to try traditional dishes which I want to prepare on my own. The steps help me as if it is shown how it will look after cooking.Thanks for wonderful steps and taste cooking.
hi mitali, glad to know that the steps are helpful when you make traditional recipes on your own. thank you. most welcome and happy cooking.
u r welcome.It is a sheer joy to learn,cook & serve your recipes.well presented with clear pics especially the first one tempting many to cook
God bless u & looking forward to many such wonderful recipes.
thank you much meveera. touched and grateful. hugs 🙂
hi Dassana! i prepare them the same way but in addition to the above ingredients i add a bit of garam masala and sometimes even a small ripe mashed banana to cut down jaggery amount (just to make it a bit healthy).However i apply the batter to the dull side of the leaves & place the rolls over a greased thali/lid having holes & steam them in similar way. steamed ones taste good drizzled with little oil but i agree that the tempered ones taste better.i do add sliced garlic and khus khus is to above tempering
(the vendor knows best but notice the top part of the leaf.it is shaped like “v” with pointed sides.these are suitable for patra.the itchy ones have slightly rounded sides)&before u think that i have a phd in patra, i don’t have one but simply learnt these details from my mom:) love the new look of your website
thanks meveera for sharing all these tips. the vendors do know well. i was not aware of the ‘v’ and the round shape in the leaves. thanks for sharing this too. you are the first one to comment on the new look. so thanks for this too also. as it helps to gauge if our readers are liking the new design or not.