Arbi Curry or Arbi Masala recipe is a tangy and spiced curry made with taro roots or colocasia roots. This is an easy and delicious curry recipe and tastes so good. You can make the curry during the Hindu fasting (vrat) or on non-fasting days.
About Arbi Curry
This Arbi Curry is a light North Indian style curry that I make sans onion and garlic. It is made in a base of ground tomato pureed with some spices. The recipe is basic but tastes delicious. The tanginess of the tomatoes pairs nicely with the earthiness of the taro roots.
We keep the curry consistency medium, but according to your preferences, you can make it slightly thick or a bit thin. Also, feel free to make the curry spicy or moderately spiced. My recipe is less spiced. Like mentioned above, this is a satvik recipe made without onion and garlic like all Hindu fasting or vrat recipes.
For the taro roots, you need to prep them first. You have to cook them until tender but not mushy. These colocasia roots can be cooked in a pressure cooker, in a pan on the stovetop or in an Instant pot.
I cook the taro roots in a pressure cooker, adding water just about covering them. Do remember to rinse the roots thoroughly in water to get rid of the dirt and mud.
If while peeling the cooked arbi, you see a yellow colored portion, then discard it. If the entire root looks yellow, then trash it.
During our fasting days, I usually pair this Arbi Masala with some Vrat ke Chawal (Barnyard Millet) or with Vrat ka Paratha – flatbreads made from buckwheat flour. You can also have it with other fasting breads like Rajgira Paratha or Singhare ki Poori or Rajgire ki Poori.
On non-fasting days we serve this Arbi Curry with roti/paratha or a steamed rice. We also make the same curry with potatoes. So if you do not have or get taro roots, you can make the same curry with boiled potatoes.
If you like arbi then do check these recipes of Arbi Sabji and Arbi Fry.
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Arbi Curry | Arbi Masala
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 10 to 12 colocasia roots or taro roots (arbi)
- ½ teaspoon carom seeds (ajwain)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 to 1.5 cups water or add as required
- salt as required
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves – chopped or chopped mint leaves
For making tomato paste
- 3 tomatoes – medium-sized, roughly chopped
- 1 green chili
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Instructions
Cooking taro roots
- Rinse the taro roots thoroughly in water and remove the mud or soil clinging on them.
- In a 3 litre pressure cooker, cook the taro roots in water covering them from top for 1 to 2 whistles on medium heat until tender and softened.
- When the pressure falls naturally, then only open the lid of the cooker. Drain the water and set aside the cooked arbi to cool.
- When warm or cool, peel the skins and cut the taro roots in to 2 or 4 pieces vertically.
- Blend or grind all the ingredients mentioned under the heading above "For making tomato paste to a fine and smooth consistency.
Making arbi curry
- Heat oil. Add the carom seeds and fry them on low heat.
- Then add the ground or blended tomato paste.
- Stir and add all the ground spice powders one by one.
- Fry the tomato paste till the oil separates. This will take about 6 to 7 minutes.
- Then add water, rock salt (if making for fasting) and the boiled arbi pieces. For a slightly thicker consistency, add less water.
- Simmer for some 6 to 7 minutes till the curry becomes smooth and thickens a little bit.
- Garnish with mint or coriander leaves and serve Arbi Masala hot with any flat bread or steamed rice.
Notes
- Remember to rinse the taro roots thoroughly.
- You could steam or boil the taro roots in a pressure cooker, in a pan on the stovetop and in the Instant Pot adding water as needed.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Arbi Curry from the blog archives first published in October 2012 has been updated and republished on December 2022.
Wt a delicious recepie Dassana. ….. my mom tried dis tonight. … nd it turned out superb ….. ?
I really love ur blog…..
May God bless u for ur great nd adorable work via dis blog……
I luv ur simplest way of explaining d recepie…step by step guidance with snaps….?
Keep posting “lip smacking recepies”… ?
thankyou so much for your kind and positive words dr samrin 🙂 god bless you too.
Hi Dassana,I would like share an Arbi recipe with you and it is not a fasting dish exactly.
Boil small Arbis.then peel and flatten them in your palms.Apply salt,hing,haldi,chilli pwd and mix well .Keep aside for sometime.Then rollin fine rawa or rice flour and shallow fry.It tastes excellent.I saw this on a Marathi cookery show.I do not remember which.But I think you can also add some amchur as the arbis were itching very slightly.Try this. Thanks.
thanks shubha for sharing this recipe. it is so sweet of you. in fact co incidentally today i made a similar arbi recipe for the fast. posted it just now. but i will try your version too. the rava or rice flour would give a nice crispy texture to the arbi.
As always, delicious!
Love the spices used! I would slurp it as a soup more than a curry on a cold winter night.