Vegetable - Colacasia (Taro root)

Colocasia (Taro root)

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About the Vegetable :Colocasia,a taro root plant have very large leaves , 20–150 cm (7.9–59.1 in) long, with a sagittate shape. The elephant's-ear plant gets its name from the leaves, which are shaped like a large ear or shield. The plant reproduces mostly by means of rhizomes (tubers, corms) but it also produces "clusters of two to five fragrant inflorescences in the leaf axils.They are grown outside year-round in subtropical and tropical areas. In temperate regions, they are planted out for the summer and dug up and stored over winter, dry and with ventilation to prevent fungal infection. They can be grown in almost any temperature zone as long as the summer is warm.This vegetable is available in Varieties

Scientific / Binomial name : Leucocasia

Popularly Known as :Common names include Elephant-ear, Taro, Cocoyam, Dasheen, Chembu, and Eddoe.

Usage :In the Indian subcontinent both roots and leaves are used. In Manipur, the leaves are used to make one of the type of a manipuri ethnic cuisine, locally known as Utti .The edible types are grown in the South Pacific and eaten like potatoes and known as taro, eddoe, and dasheen. The leaves are often boiled with coconut milk to make a soup which is rich in iron.

• The corm taro can be used in variety of preparations. In Hawaii, boiled corm is ground to sticky paste known as poi.
• Kaulau, a traditional Polynesian dessert known as coconut pudding in which, boiled dasheen is mixed with coconut milk and brown sugar.
• The corms are also used in the preparations of burger, bread, flakes, pancakes, muffin, chips, flour, cookie, ice cream, etc.
• Taro leaves used in soups, pakore (known as pathrode in some parts of coastal south India).