In my opinion every house should have Doddapatre plant (called Omavalli/Karpooravalli in Tamil), as it is very useful with loads of health benefits. Once my niece had some food allergy and she started getting rashes and swelling, we had no allergy medicines. Based on her mother’s suggestion, we squeezed about 1 tbsp of carom leaf juice in to her mouth and surprisingly her allergy symptoms reduced and disappeared in about half hour, it was magical !

Thambuli is a common dish with Carom leaves, but I prefer making Carom Leaves Majjige huli /kadi, a curd based dish and we love it. It can be eaten as chutney without curd and with curd it tastes excellent with rice. Try it out

Category : South Indian Dish

INGREDIENTS :

Carom leaves : 10-15 big leaves

Oil : 1-2 tbsp

Mustard seeds : 1 tsp

Curd/Yogurt /vegan substitute: as needed

Salt : to taste

FOR GRINDING :

Coconut : grated, 2-3 tbsp

Green chillies : 5-6 / to taste

Mustard seeds : 1tbsp

Jeera/cumin : 1 tsp

Ginger : 1 inch

Turmeric : 1/4 tsp (optional)

Fried gram : 1 tbsp

METHOD :

Lightly saute the carom leaves with a dash of oil and cool it. Grind all other ingredients and at the end add the carom leaves and grind coarsely. Prepare seasoning with mustered seeds and add ground masala, salt and bring to boil. When it is cool, add curd as much as needed and serve with hot rice.

With or without curd, it goes well with rotis as well.

Preparation Time : 15-20 min

VARIATIONS :

Green chillies can be substituted with red chillies (slightly roasted in a dash of oil)

INFORMATION

Vegan - YES (with curd substitute)
Gluten Free - YES

Calories:

1 katori equals approx 150 calories

NUTRITIVE VALUE :

Rich in Vitamin C and A. Its extract contains volatile compounds rich in omega-6 fatty acids, such as gamma-linoleic acid.

HEALTH BENEFITS :

Doddapatre is known to have several health benefits; it has the ability to optimize digestion and reduce IBS, reduce allergies and fever, improve the health of your skin, detoxify the body, defend against colds and coughs, ease the pain of arthritis, relieve stress and anxiety, treat certain kinds of cancer, etc.

However, due to its potent mixture of compounds and chemicals, however, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers are discouraged from using the herb.

ORIGIN :

Plectranthus amboinicus ( or Coleus amboinicus), commonly called Indian Borage, Mexican mint, belongs to family Lamiaceae might have originated in Africa and Indian subcontinent.

WATER FOOTPRINT (is litres of water needed to produce the food) :

Carom Leaves: NA. But it requires low quantities of water for cultivation.

UPCYCLE :

If the dish is left over, you could add it while making roti, chapathi or add to dosa/idli batter, it adds spices and flavour.

GENERAL TIPS :

For rashes and swelling due to allergies, crush doddapatre leaves in your palm and drink the juice (~1 tbsp), repeat if required.

Ajwain leaves cannot be stored, it is better to saute the chopped leaves if it is to be stored.

DID YOU KNOW?:

The name ajwain leaf is a misnomer as Indian borage/doddpatre is not related to ajwain/Carom (seed) plants (Ajwain, ajowan, caraway, or Trachyspermum ammi). Carom plants belong to Apiaceae or Umbelliferae and related to fennel, cumin, etc.

REFERENCES:

https://www.urbanmali.com/health-benefits-of-indian-borage-doddapatre/

Carom Leaves & Curd/Yogurt Dish