I tried another favourite Mangalorean dish – Pathrade (pronounced as Pathra-Day) which is close to getting extinct from Mangalorean kitchens. It maybe because most Mangaloreans have scattered all across the globe and finding the key ingredient to make the Pathrade – Pathradyache Kolay or Alwache Kolay (Colocasia Leaves) is harder than striking oil in Antarctica. Besides these leaves which are shredded and mixed with rice batter, one also needs Teak tree leaves (Sagoni in Konkani, Saaguvani in Kannada,Satgun in Hindi) in which this mixture is packed and then steamed in a Tondor (steamer). Alternatively we use the leaf of another tree called ‘Sandhalyache paan’ – I am not sure of its Kannada & English names, but will update the post with the same soon. You may use banana leaves to steam the Pathrade if the above mentioned two types of leaves are unavailable. Worst case, aluminium foil may also be used if leaves are not available.
Traditionally Teak leaves are used which not only lend a lovely flavour and fragrance to the pathrades but also a very pale purplish colour if you use almost dried leaves.
I was lucky to have found the two kinds of leaves during my recent trip to Mangalore and since I already own a Tondor, making this dish was easier than I thought. It was fun too, since I had only my imagination & sense of taste to aid me during preparation. Ofcourse, good ol J.B Lobo’s recipe book was my faithful teacher throughout.
Now that I have my own kitchen garden where I grow 2 types of spinach (Ceylon baji as they call it in Mlore & Palak), Miri (Kali Mirch/Pepper), Tulsi (Holy Basil) & Karano (Brahmi/Thyme-Leaved Gratiola) – the Pathrade leaves have joined the bandwagon. Take a look…
If you are unable to get the colocasia leaves, you can make pathrade with Spinach (Valche Baji/Basale)/Palak and steam the mixture in Banana leaves as Teak leaves are hard to find even in Mangalore.
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Do check out the video of how to make this dessert! I hope you enjoy it!
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Pathrade – Steamed & Savoury Rice & Colocasia Leaf Cakes
Ingredients
To be shredded:
- 6-7 very large or 17-18 small colocasia leaves/Arbi leaves
To be ground
- 500 grams boiled rice – washed and soaked for a minimum of 2 hours
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 5 bedgi chillies
- 1/2 tsp jeera/cumin
- 1 marble size ball tamarind
- 1/2 cup grated coconut optional
- Salt to taste approx 3/4th – 1 level tsp
For wrapping & steaming
- 6 large or 10-12 small teak leaves – Washed and wiped dry
Instructions
- Drain the soaked rice well and grind it along with the other ingredients mentioned under ‘To be ground’ using very little water (just to get the mixie blade going). The batter should be finely ground but dryish.
- Shred the colocasia leaves finely and mix it to the ground batter well. The best way to shred the leaves is to place one of top of the other (stacked uand then roll them together and shred in one go. This will save you a lot of time.
- On a working surface place a Teak leaf (below pictures are of another locally available leaand place about 2 portions of batter in the centre along the spine of the leaf. Leave out the corner edges so that batter doesn’t spill out.
- Fold the leaves along the sides & tips & fasten with wooden toothpicks
- While you are busy making the remaining ‘packets’ of batter, place sufficient water in a Tondor (steameand bring it to a boil
- Place all the pathrades on the shelf inside the Tondor, cover & steam for 20 minutes on high flame
- Remove from the steamer & allow to cool. Now you can open up the packet & cut into pieces of about 1/2 inch width & use in the curry or just apply Meet Mirsang (Salt+Chilli paste+vinegaand fry as you would fry fish
- You can store these for as long as 5-6 months in a deep freezer, but just ensure that you place them in ip lock (freezer safe seal bags), otherwise when you thaw them the next time around you will have slightly soggy Pathrades which will need a little squeeze before using.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Love your kitchen garden!!! Makes me miss mine all the more….Sigh…:(
Thanks May! I thought u had one in Lohr also, what abt the Mint you grew?
All dead now in the winter!!! My plants are not thriving inside the house. Maybe I do not know how to grow them in, as the temperature is controlled inside our homes. Waiting for spring again..
Green fingers too! Very well explained. I make patra so I just figured it was similar. Thanks!
This is one of my Fav dish… Thanks for the recipe.
Hi, First time here,
This is a lovely recipe!
Lovely photographs too.
Inspires me to grow those elves and enjoy the recipe.
Thanks
U have a very nice garden with all necessary veggies. Thx for uploading Pathrode. This really brought back old days:) people die to eat my mom's pathrodes. Although I have never tried making these. Now ur post is inspiring me to make them. Thx for the spinach idea:)
Can I steam using foil paper? Shoul I make holes to foil paper while steaming?
@ RM: You can steam using foil. There is no need to make holes as it may get soggy. It will steam nicely in foil too
Hi shireen,
Thanks for the blog , it has made me cook really well!!!
I wanted to try pathrade for nativity, kinda too late (I know) to ask, is there a way to make them with substitute for teak and coloccasia leaves? I am not able to get both these ingredients.
Thanks again.
Ven
@ Ven: So sorry for the delay in responding. I am sure you went ahead and made these for nativity. Well, you can use banana leaves or even baking parchment (butter paper). It works well!
Hi Shireen, thank u for this post. I love making this n your measurements work out well for me….Rashmi Sequeira.
Dear shireen,
I followed this recipie. Came out really well. But i did not add coconut while griding. Only for making curry i added. Thank you the wonderful recipie.
Hi Sabita,
So glad to hear that! 🙂 thanks for your feedback!
Tried it instead of steaming I baked it in the oven for 1 hour on moderate heat and cooled it completely and cut it like cake slices. It turned out well. Remaining pieces packed and kept in freezer.
That sounds lovely!! I must try baking next time 🙂
Shireen u are my savior when it comes to mangalorean cuisine .. today I tried making patrode which I have been eating since childhood and always thought it’s a tedious task to prepare this dish until I came across ur recipe.. hubby always wanted me to prepare this dish but I was bit hesitant.. but today It was a surprise for him to come home for his favorite patrode In mutton curry ( both ur recipes).. it turned out awesome and thank u sooo much ..
Hey Felina,
So thrilled to know that you were able to make the pathrade and enjoy it with your family! I am so very glad, really 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Shereen,
I love making and eating Patrode… but I have always used urad dhal in a two to one ratio of rice to dhal. For some reason, i always thought that the dhal was necessary for getting the ground dough to a right consistency. I am going to try your recipe later this week and compare the two. Will let you know. Anyhow, just wanted to thank you for all the Mangalorean recipes you have given us… and to keep our culture alive.
Hi Lily,
Iam sure that there are a lot of recipes out there to make patrode and i love your idea of adding the dal to it as most other communities in Mangalore do. Do try out my version and let me know how you liked it.
Also, thanks a lot for the kind words about my blog! I am so glad to note that you enjoy my recipes so much. Do stay tuned for more!
Shireen, love all your posts! I was excited to make this – the batter masala tasted great! but the batter never steamed and i tried for hours and hours. Any idea why?
Thank you Janice! Sorry to hear that the batter didnt’t really cook..it has to do a lot with the type of rice used. Did you use boiled rice or some other variety?
boiled rice! it seemed like it was 80% done but never got firm as pathrade should. Any ideas on how to rescue the batter? maybe make like dosa/bakhri like thing?
oh! I had that episode once when the pathrade was soft and I could never cut it properly..realised I was using the wrong type of boiled rice (it was called as American boiled rice sold by Lulu – if I remember it correctly). Yes, you could try making mutli or bhakri!
Shireen, I think i dded a little more water for grinding and the masala has become watery.. Any ideas to save it…
No worries, you can either add a little rice flour if you have, or steam this batter until it cooks a bit and thickens. Alternatively you can put it in an nonstick pan and keep it on the stove without any oil/water…it will thicken as it cooks. Then remove, cool a bit and follow the rest of the procedure
Hi Shireen,
Thanks for the recipe. Which brand boiled rice do u use for pathrade? Because I hv tried many times with different boiled rice ( like double horse Matta rice) but it becomes sticky. So I mix boiled rice and idly rice always. I want to try only with boiled rice. So kindly suggest.thank u
Hi Prabha, in Dubai I have used thanjavur matta – which is white boiled rice. However, not every brand gave me the same results. Some times the rice would end up sticky. You could try the Lulu brand of thanjavur matta as it worked for me
When you say shred the leaves how do you do that with a grater or cut fine. Thanks.
Hi, you need to cut it fine. Pls check my video recipe here https://youtu.be/iILRvkYL7Vk