Recipe Credit : My Mother, Mrs Surindra Bhardwaj
Patrode is a snack dish made with colocasia leaves rolled with the chickpea flour batter. It is also known as Alu Vadi, Patra, Patode, Pateed and rikwach in different states of India.
Patrode is a seasonal dish. It is made in rainy season in India because that is the time when we get arbi (colocasia) leaves in good quantity and quality, both. My mom makes it every rainy season without fail. We have been relishing it year after year, ever since I remember. It is one of my favorite traditional dish of Himachal. It is made in every home in Himachal. The filling and spices differ a little bit in different areas of Himachal but the procedure and the end product is almost same. Writing about Patrode is like a journey down my memory lane. Its nostalgic!
Until recently, I didn’t know that it is made not only in Himachal but also in so many other states of India. Himachal Pradesh – Patrode,Pateed, Patode, Uttarakhand – Patrode, Uttar Pradesh – Rikwach, Gujarat – Patra, Maharashtra – Alu Vadi and karnataka and konkan region – Pathrode. These are its few other names, by which it’s known in India. How amazing is that ! Same dish and so many names ! A few differences in the filling and spices will definitely be there but this is one traditional dish of all these states. Also, we all would have our great memories attached to it.
Arbi (Colocasia) plant is a very unique plant. It grows to full bloom in Indian rainy season. In Himachal, every part of this plant is used in cooking. The roots which is Arbi, is eaten in various forms as veg preparation or curries. Its leaves are made into Patrode and even its stem is used to make a sabzi. The sabzi thus made with the stems is very tasty and has a unique taste. I must write about it too, sometime.
Basic preparation for Patrode
There isn’t much preparation required for it but a few important points must be kept in mind.
1. Arbi leaves – Arbi (colocasia) leaves are to be cut from, near to the leaf side of the stem. Though, be careful not to spoil the leaves. The place from where you will cut the leaf, will release some water like liquid. Try to keep that liquid away from your clothes because it stains the clothes badly.
2. Washing – Arbi leaves are to be washed nicely and then wiped dry. Generally water doesn’t stay on these leaves and will go away on its own too.
3. Size – Try to collect a mix size of the leaves. The bigger leaves give a good roll of patrode and makes it easier to make. However, we do need some small leaves also to make these rolls. Therefore, collect big leaves and a few small ones too.
4. Small Leaves – Sometimes it is so difficult to get good leaves for making Patrode. Especially in cities, if you haven’t grown arbi in your kitchen garden, then getting good quality and big sized leaves is very difficult. In that case, try to get at least 4-5 big size arbi leaves and rest small leaves can be adjusted in between. See the step no.11 of method, for how to adjust small leaves in patrode.
5. Batter – The batter made for filling in the rolls is very easy. In Himachal we make it with, besan (chickpea flour) and rice flour. Lot of spices are also added for a great taste and to avoid the little harsh taste (which gives some irritation in throat), which sometimes the leaves carry. You can off course, change the amount of spices added and also add a few more if you want. Like some add, ginger and green chillies paste and some add sesame seeds in the batter. It is totally a matter of choice how you want it to taste.
Serving Options of Patrode
Patrode is served in various ways. In each way the taste differs a little.
1.Steamed – Many people, including me, like to eat them just steamed. When they are out of the pan and still little warm, I like to cut its slices and eat it just like that without any spices added. It tastes just yummm. You should try that too.
2. Fried – Now, this is the most popular way of eating patrode. They are cut into slices and then fried till crisp. You can either deep fry them or shallow fry in a pan. Whatever way you choose to fry them, do that in Sarson (mustard) oil. You can off course choose another oil or ghee, but the flavor of mustard oil goes so well with them and enhances it further.
3. Seasoning – There are a various ways in which you can season them. Sprinkle some chat masala to add a tangy taste to it. Add some roasted sesame seeds for a nutty flavour. Or just plain rock salt and black pepper powder will taste great too.
4. Chutney – It is good to serve it with some chutneys or dips, especially if you are serving it as a snack. You can choose to make any type of chutney with it. Coconut chutney, spicy mint chutney, red chillies chutney, schezwan sauce or any cheese dip; just anything can be served with it. The plain humble tomato sauce is also a good option.
Some other interesting recipes;
- Crispy Samosa recipe
- Gol Gappe/ Pani puri recipe
- Instant Dhokla recipe
- Aloo tikki recipe
- Pudina Chutney recipe
- Dahi bhalle / vada recipe
Patrode Recipe Video
Ingredients
- Arbi (colocasia) leaves – about 50 leaves (makes about 7 roll of patrode)
- Besan (chickpea flour) – 4 cup
- Rice flour – 1 cup
- Ajwain (caraway seed) powder – 1 tsp
- Jeera (cumin ) powder – 1 tbsp
- Dhania (coriander ) powder – 1 tbsp
- Amchoor (dry mango ) powder – 1 tsp
- Haldi (turmeric ) powder – 1 tsp
- Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
- Salt as per taste
- Sarson (mustard) oil – 4 tbsp
- water as required
Method
1.Wash the arbi (colocasia) leaves nicely. Wipe off the water and dry the leaves.
2. For making batter; take besan and rice flour.
3. Add spices to it. Adjust the level of spices as per your taste. Keeping it more spicy helps in avoiding the strange taste, that these leaves have sometimes. Also salt should be kept a little more so as to balance the plain flavor of leaves.
4. Add the sarson (mustard) oil. Do not use any other cooking oil or ghee.
5. Mix all these nicely and using water make a batter. Use little water at a time, so as to avoid getting a liquidy batter.
6. Check the consistency of the batter. If need be, you can off course add more rice flour or besan (chickpea flour).
7. Take a big arbi ( colocasia ) leaf and place it upside down. Use a big leaf only for the first two leaves, because they will form the base of the patrode roll. Rest of the leaves should be either equal to them in size or little small.
8. Apply besan batter to it, all over the back side. Do not apply a very thick batter or else you will get more of besan taste in patrode as the taste of arbi leaves will be overpowered by the besan. Also applying very thin layer of the batter will not taste good at all. Please check out the video and pics for a better understanding of this.
9. Now, take second arbi leaf and place it from the opposite side, upside down. Spread the batter on it evenly.
10. Like wise place all the leaves, alternatively from both sides and keep spreading the batter in between them.
11. Now, if you have small leaves of arbi, place them in between. You can place two leaves on one side and then two leaves on the other side, instead of one on each side. This way you can adjust small leaves too in the roll. Refer to video and pics for a better view of this.
12. Once about 8-9 leaves are placed, fold the leaves from one side to the 1/3 rd of the total width of the leaves. Apply the batter on that side as well.
13. Similarly, fold the other side too and bring it to the center, making the entire roll, the width of 1/3rd of the original size of it. For a smooth folding, it is good to place big leaves in the first two places.
14. Start rolling the patrode. Keep your hands light but firm. The outer leaves should not break. Also keep holding the folded leaves in between, so that the roll doesn’t open up from there.
15. Once rolled, seal the end with the batter.
16. Prepare all the rolls like this.
17. Now, we will pressure cook them. Take a cooker and place a stand in between. Add 1 cup water.
18. Put all the rolls in the cooker.
19. Place the cooker on gas on high flame and put the lid on with whistle.
20. Cook on high flame until the pressure is built up in it. Then put the flame to low and cook for about 30 min.
21. Once done, take out patrode rolls and let them cool down completely. If you will try to slice them, when they are still hot, they might just start to break.
22. Cut the slices and deep or shallow fry them until crisp from both sides.
23. Sprinkle some chat masala or roasted sesame seeds and serve with your choice of chutney or dips.
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Waoo. !!!
It looks yummy..
😍😍
Thank you so much dear
Too good and looks like very tasty. Will definitely try
Hey thanks…would love to know how it turned out!