What makes colocasia leaves the stars of the monsoon

Hindus in Kerala mark the month of Karkidakam with spiritual and ritualistic practices and a restorative diet to fortify the body against diseases that the wet, damp months of the monsoon bring. In Coorg, says Bengaluru-based culinary entrepreneur Radhica Muthappa, “we make a chutney, or pajji, with colocasia leaves roasted on the dying embers of a charcoal fire, or on a griddle. Pinwheel fritters made with colocasia leaves layered with spiced Bengal gram or rice flour batter—called patra, patrel, alu chi vadi, rikwach—are a popular monsoon snack in many parts. In Bengali kitchens, especially those with roots in riverine East Bengal, colocasia leaves and stems are cooked in a myriad ways: chopped with prawns in mustard gravy; boiled or toasted leaves pulverised and cooked in mustard oil tempered with nigella seeds and garlic to make a bhorta or bata; cooked into tangy ambol with tart tamarind pulp; wrapped around mustard-laced hilsa, the queen of monsoons, to make an edible parcel for steamed ilish paturi; or kochur shak, cooked with black gram and coconut or the head of hilsa fish. The leaf in rituals On Rishi Panchami, after Ganesh Chaturthi, Maharashtrian homes make a curry with foraged veggies, including colocasia leaves, called rushichi bhaji, or hermit’s stew.