Taro root cooked with mustard seeds, garlic and dried red chilli in mustard oil until the outside is slightly crispy and coated in the sharp spiced oil — an everyday vegetable preparation of rural UP households eaten with roti and dal.
Ingredients
500 g arbi (taro root/colocasia) — boiled in salted water until tender, peeled and halved
3 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
6 garlic cloves — coarsely crushed
3 dried red chilli
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp amchur (dry mango powder)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish
Method
Boil the taro: Wash the arbi. Boil in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes until fully tender — a knife should slide in easily. Cool, peel and halve each piece.
Heat mustard oil until smoking: Heat 3 tbsp mustard oil in a wide pan until smoking. Reduce to medium-high.
Add mustard seeds: Add mustard seeds — wait to pop.
Add dried red chilli and asafoetida: Add dried red chilli and asafoetida. Stir 15 seconds.
Add the boiled taro: Add the halved boiled taro pieces. Stir to coat with the hot spiced oil.
Add spices: Add turmeric and red chilli powder. Stir gently.
Fry until lightly crispy: Cook on medium-high heat without moving for 2 minutes. Flip the pieces. Cook 2 more minutes on the other side. The taro should develop golden, slightly crispy patches on the outside.
Add amchur: Add amchur and salt. Stir gently.
Serve: Scatter coriander leaves. Serve with wheat roti and any dal.
Note: Arbi ki Sabzi is the everyday taro root preparation of rural UP households — particularly in the eastern UP districts of Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia where taro is widely grown. Taro has a naturally sticky, slightly slimy texture when boiled — the key is the mustard oil and high-heat frying after boiling, which transforms the sticky boiled root into something with a pleasant slightly crispy exterior. The amchur at the end cuts through the natural starchiness of taro.