Anishi

Taro leaves fermented in a sack for days, then pressed into cakes and smoked.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 40 colocasia leaves, taro, young and undamaged
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

Method

1. TARO LEAVES ARE FERMENTED IN A SACK FOR DAYS, THEN PRESSED INTO CAKES AND SMOKED. Its article is three sentences and that is the whole of it: TO MAKE ANISHI, TARO LEAVES ARE WRAPPED IN GUNNY BAGS OR BANANA LEAVES FOR ABOUT 3-4 DAYS BEFORE BEING GROUND INTO A PASTE, TYPICALLY WITH SALT AND OTHER SPICES, THEN PRESSED INTO CAKES AND SMOKED OVER A FIRE OR DRIED BY THE SUN BY THE AO NAGA TRIBE.
2. BOTH THE FERMENT AND THE SMOKE ARE DOING A JOB, AND IT IS THE SAME ONE PATRODE'S WARNING IS ABOUT. Raw colocasia leaf is an irritant, and the article for patrode, as on its own page, says care must be taken that the leaves are adequately cooked. Here the days in the sack and the smoke over the fire are the route to the same place. Use young leaves, take the process to the end, and if a cake tastes sharp on the tongue, smoke it longer.
3. STRIP THE THICK RIBS OUT AND WILT THE LEAVES FIRST. The ribs are the slowest part and the most irritant. A day in the shade takes the stiffness out so they can be packed tight.
4. PACK THEM INTO A SACK OR A WRAP OF BANANA LEAVES AND LEAVE THEM THREE OR FOUR DAYS. Somewhere warm. They go dark, soft and slippery and smell sour and green. That is the ferment the article asks for.
5. GRIND THEM TO A PASTE WITH THE SALT AND SPICES. A mortar, or a mincer. The article's words are GROUND INTO A PASTE, TYPICALLY WITH SALT AND OTHER SPICES.
6. PRESS THE PASTE INTO FLAT CAKES ABOUT A CENTIMETRE THICK. Two handfuls each, pressed between the palms. Thicker and the middle never dries.
7. SMOKE THEM OVER A LOW FIRE UNTIL THEY ARE HARD AND BLACK. A day in the smoke of a hearth, or several days in full sun. Finished cakes are dense and very dark -- the comparison people make is to coal -- and they keep for a year.
8. TO USE ONE, BREAK A PIECE OFF AND SIMMER IT WITH PORK. A thumbnail of it will flavour a whole pot. This is a store-cupboard ingredient rather than a dish, and the point of making forty leaves at once is that it lasts.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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