A traditional Gujarati dish called patra is made with colabasia leaves in India, which are lovely large green leaves. Here’s an example of a traditional recipe which has nice step by step pictures.
I’ve adapted the recipe to use collard greens that are rich in bioavailable calcium and other important nutrients and easily available in North America and omit frying with oil. I like my patra hot and freshly steamed, no oil necessary.
My instructions:
Wash the collards after cutting the thick stems
Then make a Chickpea flour paste:
1 cup chana flour
2 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper (marchu)
¼ tsp dried turmeric (hardar)
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin and coriander powder (dhanu jeeru)
pinch baking soda
Add water to form a paste and apply on the collard leaves. It should be a little thicker than pictured below.
Stack the leaves on top of one another, with the largest leaves farther back.
Roll them up and steam them for a long time. I steam them in the Instant pot, about 15 minutes manual pressure cooking. You could use other steamers too.
Below is how they look after i steamed and cut them. You’ll see some prettier versions on the more professional recipe sites, but they taste just as good if they’re not as tightly wrapped.
You can adjust the seasonings per your taste. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds or coconut flakes if you like.
Enjoy!!
Vegan Jains 