Arbi Tava Fry / Seppankizhangu Varuval / Colocasia Roast

After a massive , historic blizzard dumped 35 inches of snow , both body and mind started thinking of something hot and spicy food. Yet I didn't wanted to come out  of my comfort zone. With schools and offices closed, we got a family lunch time. Each one started making choices. This is what I ended up with. A simple South Indian fare with steamed rice , drumstick sambar , dal tadka , arbi tawa fry and butter milk.

Back in India , the arbi (seppankizhangu in Tamil ) used to be petite. Here in US , I feel like these have grown extra large and hard too . When I got these beauties for the first time, ended up trouble cooking them to the exact consistency.With 2 whistles in pressure cooker too , these were adamant to get cooked. Slowly I've got used and make varieties now. It shouldn't be neither mushy nor hard.

Coming to the recipe, this is  simple and quite easy one to make. But you need to have some extra time to achieve the perfect crispness. The outer layer is real crisp and the inner is velvetty soft.

What do you think, this can be teamed up with ? Sambar / vatral kuzhambu and Garlic Rasam makes a perfect deal. Also curd rice with crisp arbi makes it more interesting.

Why to wait ? Go ahead and make it and enjoy !!

Ingredients 

Arbi / Seppankizhangu/ colocasia ................................. 1 lb (app 1/2 kg)
Turmeric .................................................................. 1/2 tsp
Asafetida .................................................................. 1/4 tsp
Red chilli Powder ...................................................... 3/4 tsp
Sambar Powder ....................................................... 1/2 tsp (optional)
Salt ......................................................................... to taste
Oil ........................................................................... 2 tbsp
Lemon juice ............................................................. 1 tsp (optional)

Method

1. Pressure cook the arbi . It shouldn't be neither mushy nor hard.
2. Let it cool and peel off the skin.
3. Cut them into discs (not too thin)
4. To the arbi , add all the dry powders and a bit of oil.
5. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
6. Mean while heat a griddle ( I used a cast iron tawa)  on medium high .
7. Drizzle a bit of oil and place the arbi discs gently.
8. Lowe the heat to medium.
9. Now drizzle some oil along the sides of each arbi.
10. Cook for 7 minutes / until you achieve a perfect crisp on one side.
11. Now gently turn them and do the same for this side too.
12. Add lemon juice now and  let cook for 3 more minutes.

Note

• If the arbi turns mushy , it becomes difficult to handle.
• Using iron tawa / griddle helps in faster cooking and better result.
• Using lemon juice is completely optional. You can stop with step 11 in that case.