Kochu is a popular vegetable in West Bengal, Bangladesh and some parts of its neighbouring states. There are various types of kochu available in the region. Some types of kochu is also popular in various countries across the world. Almost every part of this plant is edible. It is very easy to grow and almost without any care anybody can grow in the backyard. This vegetable is also very nutritious. It contains a lot of important vitamins as well as minerals. But sometimes consumption of this plant may cause of itchy throat. It is due to the presence of calcium oxalate in this plant. But if you get good quality vegetable and cook it properly. Then you won’t face such a problem. That is why many people use it to make so many delicious dishes. Okay, now what is kochu in English? Do you know the English meaning of kochu?
Kochu is normally known as taro in English.
There are four types of kochu that we generally eat. These are ol kochu, maan kochu, gaathi kochu and kochur loti. So which one is your favourite?
Ol kochu in English – Elephant foot yam
I love this vegetable. It is basically an edible tuber of the plant. Ol kochu is popular across the country. It is known as suran in Hindi. It is very easy to grow plant. Like any other kochu plant, anybody can grow it with minimum to no fertilizer at their backyard.
I grew it many years ago. The plant looks very beautiful. So many people grow it in the home garden too. But I do not prefer it to grow because it takes approx 7 months to develop the tuber. Secondly, if you grow it from tuber, then there is a chance that out of 3-4 pieces of tuber, only one piece of tuber finally converts into a plant. Once you see the plant then it is easy to grow. As the tuber is very big & round shaped like an elephant, that is why it is known as elephant foot yam.
This is used to make delicious ol kochur tarkari (suran curry). It is prepared like meat. I mean to say it is normally spicy & very flavorful dish.
Maan kochu in English – Elephant ear yam
You can see this plant in almost every premise in rural or semi-urban areas in West Bengal as well Bangladesh. Many people love the dishes prepared with maan kochu. I mainly prepared maan kochur bata (bharta) and bhaja (fried). Maan kochu bata and plain rice are very delicious food. Many Bengali people love this.
I have a few plants in our yard garden. If you grow just one plant then you will get many plants year after year. So you would not need to buy this maan kochu again from the market. I just keep one main plant and a small plant at a time. Otherwise, I can not manage it in the yard garden.
The leaf of this plant is very big. It looks like an elephant ear. That is why its name is elephant ear yam. Every year, I get one or two big size maan kochu from our garden. One tuber can be as big as 7-8 kg. So a small family will take 5-6 days to consume that. If you have multiple plants then you will definitely distribute it to relatives & neighbours.
English name of gathi kochu – Taro root
Almost every Indian ate it several times. It is popular in various parts of the country. But it is used to make different dishes in different places. Its tubers and leaves are edible. Its tubers are used to make delicious Bengali style gaathi kochur dal. In Northern Indian states, people prefer stir-fried gathi kochu. It is also known as arbi in Hindi. So now you came to know the word for arbi vegetable in English too.
People love roti and arbi ke sabji. I tried it several times. But gathi kochur dal is just next level. Since my childhood I used to think that here dal (lentils) is added to make it. But I was wrong. Its name is just gathi kochur dal. But no dal is there, haha. It is cheater’s dish. I love gathir dal and plain rice. It is really super enjoyable. If you did not try it then you should try it once.
It is also another type of easy to grow kochu plant. A few years back I grew some plants and I got approx 500-600 gm tubers from each plant. You can even grow it in pots. You just need to use a light potting mix. I generally use leaf compost fertilizer and wood ash to grow any tuber root-based plant.
Kochur loti in English word – Taro stolon
Pani kochu, loti raj – these are popular types of kochur loti. Loti is nothing but a runner from where a new plant will grow. So it is a reproductive part of the plant. I love kochur shak (prepared with its leaves & leaf stalk) and kochur loti sabji (taro stolon curry). Do you know that its flowers are also edible? Those flowers are used to make tasty & crispy pakoda. I have tried it a few times. Do you know any other popular dishes prepared with kochu? If you know then share it with us by leaving a comment below.
I have a few kochur loti plants in the yard garden as well as in pots too. Surprisingly the plants grown in the pots are growing faster. I don’t know why. I am waiting for the day when those plants will start showing magic. Those plants will start producing a lot of kochur loti, kochur shaak and flowers to make pakoda. Not only that its tuber is also edible. What else do you want? Everything of a plant is edible. Each of those is used to make various delicious & traditional dishes.
So I think you came to know the English words for various kochu. If you thought ‘kochu English ki?’ and then you landed on this page. If it is the case, then I think this post helped you.
very helpful.