Chamakura potlalu, a delicious colocasia leaf parcels stuffed with spicy gram dal paste. And this is quite an old and authentic delicacy from Telangana region. These are the perfect accompaniment for lunch or dinner with sumptuous dal and hot rice. This dish is nothing less than a meat delicacy for the vegetarians.
What are CHAMAKURA POTLALU?
Colocasia leaves are known by “CHAMAKURA, చామకూర” in Telugu which is mainly spoken in Telangana and Andhra region. These colocasia leaves or chamakura/chama aaku are abundantly grow in the monsoon/rainy season. Hence these spicy and delicious parcels make a great snack and accompaniment as a side dish for lunch or dinner. Potlalu is telugu word for Parcels, “పొట్లాలు” as the chamakura/colocasia leaves are stuffed and wrapped like a parcel, hence it got its name “CHAMAKURA POTLALU, చామకూర పొట్లాలు” . These parcels are stuffed with hearty lentil stuffing of chana dal, onions and spices.
Nostalgic memories of CHAMAKURA POTLALU
The arrival of monsoon invokes so many memories, the taste of that crispy Makka garelu, or the sizzling sound of Fresh Maize cob roasting on embers or the intoxicating smell of the delicious CHAMAKURA POTLALU. I still remember vividly, My mother has just started wrapping the parcel and I join in by helping her to spread the stuffing on leaves. I can visualize my mother sitting down on the kitchen floor, enthusiastically wrapping the colocasia leaves with freshly grinded bengal gram dal paste and carefully placing them on a plate before they unfold.
First, she carefully removes the stubborn strings at the bottom of leaves, which won’t allow us to wrap properly. Then she generously placed the flavorful stuffing on the leaf and folded one side at a time and made a parcel. She would efficiently finish wrapping all the leaves and I would still struggle to wrap the one I started with.
Where have I learnt this recipe?
This is the passed down recipe by my Nanamma, paternal grandmother to my mother and I have learned by watching my mum making these. And I wanna someday teach my little girl and pass down the recipe. Also I learnt this sumptuous dal of colocasia leaves and stalks from my mother, check out the detailed recipe here.
Is this dish VEGAN ??
Yes, this dish is absolutely vegan and plant based.
What all ingredients do we need for making this recipe?
- Colocasia leaves
- Bengal gram dal – Soak for minimum for 2-4 hours.
- Onion
- Basic spices – Turmeric, salt, cumin seeds and red chili powder.
Let’s get into the recipe but before that also check out these traditional foods from Telangana cuisine.
CHAMAKURA POTLALU
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 10 Colocasia / Taro leaves
- 1½ cups Chana dal/Bengal gram dal
- 1 medium Onion finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Red chilli powder
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp Turmeric powder
- ½ inch Ginger root
- ¼ cup Cilantro finely chopped
- 3 tbsp Oil
Instructions
Soak the lentils
- Wash and soak the chana dal/bengal gram dal for minimum of 4 hours.
Prepping
- In a blender add soaked chana dal, chopped ginger root, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric powder and in a pulse mode grind it to coarse paste without adding any water.
- Transfer the blended chana dal mixture to a mixing bowl, add chopped onion, chopped cilantro and give it a nice mix. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Wash and remove the stalks of colocasia leaves and keep aside.
- Take a two tablespoonfuls of mixture and place it on the bottom side of leaf and wrap it like a parcel and place them on a plate.
- And repeat the process for the remaining leaves.
Cooking the parcels
- Heat a skillet and add three tbsps of oil and once its hot, carefully place all the wrapped parcels.
- Cover the skillet with a lid and cook it on a medium flame for 5 minutes.
- Now flip them and cover the skillet and cook for 5 more minutes on medium flame.
- Serve warm parcels with hot rice and sumptuous dal or stews.
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