Serves 4 as a side dish
These Stewed Taro Leaves are a Mauritian dish that is served as an accompaniment. When stewed this tropical green leaves (also called kalo) turn a dark brown, almost black and are thick and delicious when cooked with onion, a few spices and tangy tamarind paste. Mauritians eat this as street food with a roti.
What you need…
• 20 stalks of taro with leaves. Peel the first layer, clean thoroughly and chop.
• 1 Tablespoon oil
• 0.5 onion, chopped fine
• 0.5 teaspoon garlic teaspoon
• 0.5 teaspoon ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 0.5 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 5 curry leaves
• 1 Tablespoon tamarind paste
• Salt to taste
• 1 tomato, chopped
• A few coriander leaves to garnish
How to make it…
1. Heat the oil in a pan to a medium pan and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion softens (about 5 minutes)
2. Add the chilli flakes, cumin seeds and curry leaves, and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the taro leaves, tamarind paste, salt and a little water, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
4. Add the tomato and cook until the colour darkens and is fully stewed (about 15–30 minutes). Add a little more water if needed but not too much as this should be served thick.
5. Garnish with the coriander leaves and serve.
• Photo of leaves by Thierry Caro, published in Wikipedia
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