Kachu Bhorta is a Bangladeshi mashed taro root dish — boiled taro (kachu) pounded with mustard oil, onion, garlic, green chili, and dried shrimp into a soft, earthy, slightly slimy mash. It is the quintessential Bengali bhorta — turning the humblest root vegetable into a deeply flavorful side dish with a mortar and mustard oil.
Bhorta (mashed dishes) are a cornerstone of Bangladeshi cuisine. Kachu Bhorta uses taro root (kachu, Colocasia esculenta) — a starchy, slightly mucilaginous root vegetable that grows abundantly in Bangladesh's wet climate. The root is boiled until soft, then pounded with raw onion, garlic, green chili, dried shrimp, and mustard oil. The result is a soft, earthy, slightly sticky mash with a pungent kick. Like all bhortas, it is everyday home food, eaten with rice and dal.
A bowl of pale, soft, slightly sticky mash with flecks of pink dried shrimp and green chili. The taro is earthy and starchy; the mustard oil is pungent; the dried shrimp add umami; the raw onion gives sharpness. It is the most rustic, most comforting bhorta there is.
The taro must be boiled with the skin on (peeling raw taro irritates the skin due to calcium oxalate crystals). After boiling, the skin slips off easily. The flesh is mashed in a mortar with the other ingredients. Mustard oil is essential. The dried shrimp are soaked, then pounded with the taro.
Variations
Some omit the dried shrimp (vegetarian); some add cilantro; some use more or less chili; the taro variety varies.
On the Palate
Where Kachu Bhorta sits in the Bangladeshi flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 20 min active + 20 min waiting
- 120 min
Boil 500 g taro roots (skin-on) in salted water 20 minutes until tender.
Watch outBoil the taro with the skin on until a knife slides through easily — peeling it raw irritates your hands, and the skin peels off clean once cooked.
- 25 min
Drain; cool; peel off the skins.
- 33 min
Transfer the flesh to a mortar.
- 45 min
Add 1 finely diced onion, 3 minced garlic cloves, 2 chopped green chilies, 30 g soaked dried shrimp, and 1/2 tsp salt.
- 52 min
Pound to a coarse mash.
- 61 min
Add 3 tbsp mustard oil; mix well.
Watch outFold in the raw mustard oil at the end — its sharp pungency is the backbone of the bhorta; cook it off and you lose the whole character.
- 71 min
Serve with rice and dal.
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