Palak Alwathi

Alwathi is a much loved dish prepared originally with Taro leaves which grow abundantly in monsoon.Each and every house back in native have them grown in their back yard.Alwathi is a traditional dish which is prepared during the auspicious ” Ananth Chaturdashi ” too also called as ” Nopi “. As taro leaves are difficult to be found in cities we started experimenting and found out that palak can be substituted with taro leaves and the dish can be enjoyed without compromising on the taste.So without any delay…lets start with the recipe .

Ingredients:

2-3 bunches of palak chopped
1 cup of coconut
5-6 roasted red chillies(I use byadgi)
Small marble sized tamarind/ hog plums/bimbul
Handful of groundnuts soaked overnight(optional)
Tsp of chopped ginger
2 green chilles slit
Salt to taste
10-12 garlic flakes crushed
Oil for seasoning

Method:

Pressure cook the chopped palak,ginger and the soaked groundnuts for 2-3 whistles.

Grind coconut ,red chillies and tamarind to a smooth paste using water as required and add it to the boiled palak and groundnuts.

Add slit green chillies, salt and water as required and give a nice boil for 5-10 minutes

Heat oil in a pan and fry the crushed garlic till golden brown and pour it over the curry .

The alwathi is now ready to be relished with meals as an accompaniment to rice.

Notes:

If using hog plums …crush it nicely and add it just before adding the ground paste .
If using bimbul it can be substituted with tamarind while grinding.
Tender corn cobs or sweet corn cobs too can be added while pressure cooking for extra flavour.
When prepared on auspicious days the seasoning given is that of mustard seeds and curry leaves ..you can do that for regular days too and avoid garlic.