Dogri Kachalu

Boiled Pahari hill taro with chukh — small, dark-skinned kachalu (a local hill variety of colocasia or Dioscorea tuber, distinct from plains arbi) pressure-cooked until just soft, peeled, and served whole or halved with a side of chukh chutney and raw onion. The kachalu has a denser, more starchy flesh than plains taro and a mild, clean flavour. Eaten as a light breakfast or snack at market stalls and morning dawats, the simplest possible preparation of one of Jammu's most characteristic hill produce.