Limboo Arbi (Taro Root Curry with Lime)

I was originally planning on making just two curries for dinner tonight: one lamb and fenugreek curry and one dal. However, both curries had a reasonably long simmering stage and I found myself at loose ends, so I decided to throw together this simple taro root curry as well.

It was especially easy in my case, since I had a bag of peeled, sliced taro root in the freezer already. So there was virtually no prep needed. I just dumped the taro into a pot of hot water and brought it to a boil. Once the water boiled, I drained it immediately rather than letting it cook for any length of time because a) frozen vegetables have generally been parcooked already and b) it was sliced much tinner than the thick half moons suggested by the recipe. This seems to have worked reasonably well and I'm quite happy with the result.

Limboo Arbi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 450g taro root
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 tsp. ground asafetida
• 12 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 Tbsp. skinned split black lentils (urad dal/white lentils/mapte beans)
• 1 c. water
• juice of 1 lime

Directions

1. Peel the taro and rise well (it will still be slippery after rinsing).
2. Cut each root in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 3-4cm pieces.
3. Place taro in a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 8-10 minutes. Then drain and allow to cool slightly.¹
5. Toss the cooked taro with the cilantro, sambhar masala, salt, turmeric, asafetia, and curry leaves.
6. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
7. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until they stop popping (30-60 seconds).
8. Add the lentils and stir-fry for 15-30 seconds.
9. Add the taro mixture and stir-fry to cook the spices (1-2 minutes).
10. Add the water and deglaze the pan.
11. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens (~5 minutes).
12. Stir in the lime juice and serve.

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¹ Alternatively, instead of peeling and cutting up the taro first, scrub it with a vegetable brush and then boil the whole (unpeeled) roots for ~15 minutes. Drain, allow to cool, and peel and chop the taro once it is cool enough to handle. Either approach should work equally well. ^Back