Arbi Curry (Taro Curry)

I ended up making this curry with ube (ratalu) rather than taro root, but it still seemed to work well. It tasted nice and was still starchy enough to thicken up the sauce. And I appreciated that making it with frozen, cubed ube meant that I didn't have to deal with peeling fresh taro myself.

Arbi Curry

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g taro root
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/mapte beans)
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 12 curry fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2-4 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies, chopped

Directions

1. Peel the taro and cut into 2cm cubes.
2. Place in a pot and add enough water to cover.
3. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and cook, covered, until tender (~8 minutes).
4. Reserve 1 c. of cooking water and drain the taro.
5. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they've stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
7. Add the lentils and cook, stirring constantly, until golden-brown (20-30 seconds).
8. Add the turmeric and cook for ~5 seconds.
9. Add the oil mixture to the cooked taro along with the reserved cooking water, cilantro, salt, curry leaves, and chilies.
10. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened (~5 minutes).