AI-generated image
Arvi ka salan
اروی کا سالن (arvi ka salan): colocasia in a thin, tangy onion, tomato and ajwain curry
Arvi ka salan is a Lahore and Karachi home curry, cooked on weekday evenings when the vegetable seller has a basket of small, hairy colocasia roots. The roots are boiled, peeled and simmered in a loose, sour gravy of onion, tomato, ajwain and a squeeze of lemon, so the slightly slippery arvi soaks up the spice and turns creamy at the centre. Eat it with hot roti or plain rice and a little raw onion. The usual mistake is undercooking the arvi: half-cooked colocasia leaves an itchy, scratchy feeling in the throat, so it must be soft all the way through. Chef's tip: once the boiled arvi is peeled, press each piece flat with your palm before it goes into the gravy, so the rough edges thicken the sauce.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 ⅛ lb arvi (colocasia roots)scrubbed
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- ½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
- 1 onionfinely sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 2 tomatoeschopped
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 green chilliesslit
- 2 tbsp fresh corianderchopped
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Fresh ingredients (5)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Rub a little oil on your hands. Put the 1 ⅛ lb arvi (colocasia roots) in a large pot, cover with water and boil for 15 minutes until a knife slides in easily. Drain, cool for a few minutes, then peel off the skins and cut larger roots in half. Press each piece flat with your palm.
18 minStep 2: Wipe the pot dry. Heat 3 tbsp sunflower oil over a medium heat, add ½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds) and let it crackle for 10 seconds, then fry 1 onion for 8 minutes until golden.
8 minStep 3: Add 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste and fry for 1 minute until the raw smell goes. Add 2 tomatoes, ½ tsp ground turmeric, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp ground coriander and 1 tsp salt and cook for 6 minutes, mashing, until the oil separates at the edges.
7 minStep 4: Add the arvi and stir to coat for 2 minutes, then pour in 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the gravy is lightly thickened and the arvi is completely soft at the centre with no hard core.
12 minStep 5: Stir in 1 tbsp lemon juice and 2 green chillies, simmer 1 minute more, then taste for salt and scatter over 2 tbsp fresh coriander. Serve hot with roti or rice.
1 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 30 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does arvi ka salan take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 15 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of tomatoes?
- Tinned chopped tomatoes: a 400g tin for about 6 tomatoes (in cooked dishes, not salads).
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Sayur lodeh
Sayur lodeh is everyday cooking in Central Java, made in big pots in Solo and Semarang kitchens and ladled over rice, with lontong rice cakes at Lebaran, or alongside opor and sambal goreng on festive tables. It's soupy rather than thick: a fragrant broth of coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf that carries chunks of aubergine, long beans, chayote and sweetcorn, plus tempeh and tofu to make it a meal. The flavour is mellow and slightly sweet, so the heat comes from sambal on the side. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the coconut milk goes in and stir now and then — a rolling boil splits the coconut milk into oily curds.
Indonesian
Polos curry
Polos is the tiny unripe jackfruit picked in the Western and Sabaragamuwa provinces long before it sweetens, and cooked low and slow it becomes one of the island's most loved festival curries, especially at Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April and at wedding lunches. The firm, pale flesh soaks up a very dark roasted curry powder, garlic, ginger, goraka (a smoky souring fruit) and coconut milk until it turns almost black-brown and tastes rich, sour and meaty. Fresh polos is hard to find abroad; tinned young green jackfruit in brine works well. A frequent mistake is not cooking it long enough, which leaves it squeaky; the pieces must be soft enough to break with a spoon. Chef's tip: oil your hands and knife before cutting fresh jackfruit; the sticky white sap washes off oiled skin but not dry skin.
Sri Lankan
Bagara baingan
Bagara baingan is a Hyderabadi wedding dish of small aubergines cooked whole in a dark, tangy gravy of roasted peanuts, sesame, dried coconut and tamarind. Unlike a Gujarati stuffed brinjal, the aubergines here are only quartered at the base and fried until silky, then left to soak up a thin-but-rich sauce that is finished with a tempering, the 'baghar' that gives the dish its name. It's sour, nutty and gently spiced, and is served with biryani, bagara rice or plain rice. Chef's tip: choose small, glossy purple aubergines that feel heavy for their size; soft, light ones are full of seeds and turn mushy before the gravy has a chance to cling.
Indian