The dish, a staple on The Bombay Canteen menu since we opened, highlights two wonderful, local Indian ingredients – arbi or colocasia, which is a tuber, and mogri, or rat tail radish, a pod from the radish family. This dish is inspired by a Sindhi dish called tuk in which the vegetable is fried, smashed and fried again until crisp. What you get as a result mimics a flat chaatwala’s puri, so we decided to top it with spiced yogurt, tamarind chutney and a kachumber to resemble a sev puri.

  • Serves

    8

  • Cook Time

    45m

Ingredients

  • 1 kg arbi, peeled and cut in half
  • 8 tbsp tamarind chutney

For Spiced Yogurt

  • 2 kg hung curd
  • 3 tsp red chilli powder
  • 3 tsp cumin powder, toasted
  • Sugar to taste
  • Salt to taste
  • Chaat masala to taste

For Mogri Salad

  • 1 cup mogri, chopped
  • 4 tbsp diced tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp diced pickled onion
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
  • 2 tsp pickling liquid
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • ½ tsp finely chopped green chillies
  • Salt to taste

Preparation

  1. Fry the arbi for about 5-8 minutes at 165 degree Celsius until it is tender.
  2. Drain the arbi on kitchen paper, allow the pieces to cool and then smash them to flatten.
  3. To make the spiced yogurt, whisk the yogurt in a bowl with chilli powder, cumin powder, salt, sugar and chaat masala.
  4. Pour both the tamarind chutney and spiced yogurt into separate squeeze bottles and keep refrigerated.
  5. In another bowl, combine all the salad ingredients and give it all a good toss to make the mogri salad.
  6. Now deep fry the smashed arbi at 180 degree Celsius until it is crisp.
  7. Drain the arbi on a paper towel and season with salt, chilli powder and chaat masala.
  8. Lay crisp fried arbi on a plate and give it a drizzle of tamarind and spiced yogurt.
  9. Now sprinkle some chaat masala, chilli powder and seasoning.
  10. Follow it up with another drizzle of tamarind chutney and spicy yoghurt.
  11. Top it with the mogri salad.
  12. Serve immediately, while the arbi is hot and the yogurt still cold.

Thomas Zacharias

Thomas Zacharias

An alumnus of the Culinary Institute of America, Chef Thomas Zacharias worked at the celebrated New York three-star Michelin restaurant La Bernardin under Chef Eric Ripert before returning to India. He first helmed the kitchen at Olive Bar and Kitchen in Bandra, Mumbai, then became the Executive Chef at The Bombay Canteen. Currently Chef-Partner at The Bombay Canteen, Zacharias’ food philosophy involves showcasing regional Indian cuisines in a contemporary avatar, celebrating local and seasonal ingredients, and creating memorable food experiences around Indian cuisine. He travels extensively around the country to explore regional cuisines.

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