Patrode also known as patrodo, patra, or patrodu, is a steamed vegetarian dish made from

colocasia ''Colocasia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Some species are widely cultivated and naturalized in other tropical and subtropical regions. The names elephant-ear and ...

leaves (''chevu'' in Tulu, taro, ''kesuve'' or ''arbi'') in various parts of India.

Etymology

Patra in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

and its derivative languages means leaf and vade/vado means dumpling. In Maharashtra, it is called alu vadi. It is also known as rikvach in

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, and

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, patrodé in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, patra in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, chembila appam in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, alu vadi in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

(especially in

Malvan Malvan (also written as Malwan) is a town and ''taluka'' in Sindhudurg District, the southernmost district of Maharashtra State, India, well known for the historically important Sindhudurg Fort. Malvan ''taluka'' consists of villages such as ...

) and

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, patrodu in

, saina in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

, and

saheena Saheena (also spelled sahina or sahiena) is a street food and snack of in the cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago of Indo-Trinidadian origin. History and etymology The dish traces back to indentured labourers from South Asia. After the end of slav ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. It is a primary cuisine for the

Konkani __NOTOC__ Konkani may refer to: Language * Konkani language is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Konkan region of India. * Konkani alphabets, different scripts used to write the language **Konkani in the Roman script, one of the scripts used to ...

-speaking

Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Gaud Saraswat Brahmins (GSB) (also Goud or Gawd), also known as Shenvis are a Hindu community of contested caste status and identity. They primarily speak Konkani and its various dialects as their mother tongue. They claim to be Saraswat Bra ...

community (patrodu).

Preparation

It is made from

leaves (''chevu'' in Tulu, taro, ''kesuve'' or ''arbi'') stuffed with gram or rice flour and flavourings such as spices,

tamarind Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...

, and

jaggery Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...

(raw sugar). Care must be taken during preparation to ensure that the leaves are adequately cooked. ''

Colocasia esculenta Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

'' is a member of the

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

group of plants (including

caladium ''Caladium'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. They are often known by the common name elephant ear (which they share with the closely related genera ''Alocasia'', ''Colocasia'', and ''Xanthosoma''), heart of Jesus, and ang ...

philodendron ''Philodendron'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. , the Plants of the World Online accepted 621 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the genus is the second-largest member o ...

anthurium ''Anthurium'' (; Schott, 1829) is a genus of about 1,000Mantovani, A. and T. E. Pereira. (2005)''Anthurium'' (section ''Urospadix''; subsection ''Flavescentiviridia'').''Rodriguesia'' 56(88), 145–60. species of flowering plants, the largest g ...

alocasia ''Alocasia'' is a genus of rhizomatous or tuberous, broad-leaved, perennial, flowering plants from the family Araceae. There are about 90 accepted species native to tropical and subtropical Asia and eastern Australia. Around the world, many growe ...

, peace lily, etc.), which are all known to contain irritating

calcium oxalate crystals Calcium oxalate (in archaic terminology, oxalate of lime) is a calcium salt of oxalic acid with the chemical formula or . It forms hydrates , where ''n'' varies from 1 to 3. Anhydrous and all hydrated forms are colorless or white. The monohydr ...

. Only through proper duration of steaming/cooking are they palatable. Mild side effects are described as feeling similar to “swallowing sand” or having “a mouthful of glass”, sensations which can be accompanied by nausea, side aches and potential kidney stone formation, in the worst-case scenarios. Many other plants with thick, glossy foliage contain these same oxalate crystals as a natural defense against animals, albeit in varying concentrations, such as

Swiss chard Chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, or Swiss chard, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf bl ...

, and there are no issues for the consumer. The vast majority of people do not suffer from any issues, as most chefs prepare the taro leaves correctly.

Origin

Patrode is a unique dish originally made from colocasia leaves in the coastal regions of

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

where

Taro Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...

or "Colocasia esculenta" is thought to be native plant of Southern India. Over time this dish has been adopted by various states in India.

Traditional speciality guaranteed A traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG; : traditional specialities guaranteed) is a traditional food product protected under European Union and/or United Kingdom law. This label differs from the geographical indications protected designation of ...
Status

In July 2021, it was identified as one of the '' traditional food recipes'' from the AYUSH system of medicine by the Union Ministry of AYUSH. According to the Ministry of AYUSH, iron-rich colocasia leaves help to improve hemoglobin levels. The leaves contain phenols, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides, and sterols, which help in reducing chronic inflammation such as rheumatoid arthritis. The leaves have significant amounts of vitamin C and beta-carotene.

References

{{Legume dishes Chickpea dishes Deep fried foods Dumplings Fijian cuisine Gujarati cuisine Indian snack foods Kerala cuisine Konkani cuisine Maharashtrian cuisine Rice dishes Steamed foods Tamil cuisine Vegetarian dishes of India

Etymology

Preparation

Origin

Traditional speciality guaranteed A traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG; : traditional specialities guaranteed) is a traditional food product protected under European Union and/or United Kingdom law. This label differs from the geographical indications protected designation of ... Status

See also

References

Traditional speciality guaranteed A traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG; : traditional specialities guaranteed) is a traditional food product protected under European Union and/or United Kingdom law. This label differs from the geographical indications protected designation of ...
Status