Alvati or Aluvati (Colocasia Leaves Curry)

Alvatti or Aluvati is a Konkani curry made of Alu Pan/Colocasia Leaves.  Colocasia leaves also called as Arum Leaves or Taro Root Leaves are easily available in the rainy season.
I had blogged about Alu Wadi last year, where I used Collard Greens as a substitute for Colocasia Leaves.  Today, I made this curry with collard greens and it tasted good too.  In an authentic recipe, jackfruit seeds are also added, which I could not find here.

Ingredients:
Collard Greens - a bunch
Grated Coconut - about 1/2 cup
Toor Dal/Split Pigeon Peas - 1/4 cup
Raw Peanuts/Groundnuts/Shenga - 1/4 cup
Dry Red Chillies - 5
Coriander Seeds/Dhane - 1 tbsp
Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp
Tamarind/Chinch - 1/2 tsp
Garlic/Lahsun - 4 big cloves
Salt
Oil

How to prepare Aluvati:
1. Remove the thick midrib of collard greens and medium chop the leaves.  Crush the garlic cloves.
2. Wash toor dal well. Cook toor dal and raw peanuts till dal and peanuts turn soft.  I used a pressure cooker.  You can pressure cook the greens along with dal too. 
3. Roast coriander seeds and dry red chillies with few drops of oil till coriander seeds slightly darken and turn aromatic.
4. Grind coconut, roasted coriander seeds, roasted red chillies, turmeric and tamarind to a slightly coarse paste, adding little water.  Add more tamarind for colocasia leaves to avoid the itching sensation.
5. Heat about 1/2 cup water in a pot and add collard greens.  Cook till collard greens wilt and turn soft.  Now add the ground coconut paste, cooked toor dal and peanuts.  Add salt and bring it to a boil.
6. For tempering/tadka, heat about 1 tsp oil in a small pan.  Add crushed garlic and saute till garlic turns golden brown.  Add roasted garlic to the pot and Aluvatti is ready.  Serve Aluvati with rice, pickles, papad and Batate Phodi.