Lasia spinosa, known in Sri Lanka as Kohila (කොහිල), is a spiny, evergreen perennial of wet ground and one of the island's best-loved village vegetables. Its creeping rhizome, sold as kohila ala, and its young leaves are both cooked, the rhizome in curries and tempered dishes and the leaves in mallum. Growing one to two metres tall and armed with stout prickles, it is a familiar sight along paddy-field bunds, stream banks and flooded lowlands across Sri Lanka.
Where Does Kohila Grow?
Kohila thrives in waterlogged, nutrient-rich soil. In Sri Lanka it is most common in the wet and intermediate zones, where it colonises the margins of ponds, slow streams, irrigation channels and marshes, often forming dense stands. It grows wild in wetlands such as Muthurajawela and Thalangama and along waterways like Madu Ganga, the mangrove-fringed estuary near Balapitiya, and it is also planted on a small scale along pond edges as a vegetable crop.
Beyond Sri Lanka, the species ranges across tropical Asia, from India and Bangladesh through Myanmar and southern China to Southeast Asia and New Guinea, wherever freshwater swamps stay moist all year.
What Does Lasia spinosa Look Like?
The plant spreads by a thick, creeping, stoloniferous stem, around 2.5 cm across, which is erect or ascending at the tip and studded with sharp prickles along its internodes. Prickles also line the long leaf stalks. Young leaves are arrow-shaped; mature leaves are larger and deeply cut into lobes, giving the plant a bold, architectural outline.
Like other members of the arum family, Kohila flowers as a spadix, a short fleshy spike of tiny flowers, sheltered by a spathe. In Lasia the spathe is long, narrow and often twisted, and it is usually purplish or reddish brown. The plant reproduces both from seed and vegetatively through its creeping stems, which lets it spread quickly through suitable wetland.
What Are the Edible Parts?
Two parts of the plant go into Sri Lankan cooking:
- The rhizome (ala). The creeping underground stem is cleaned, its spiny skin pared away, and the firm, cream-coloured flesh sliced into rounds or strips. It has a neutral, earthy taste and a fibrous bite, and it takes on the flavours it is cooked with.
- The young leaves. Tender, unfurling leaves are picked before the prickles harden and are finely shredded for kohila kola mallum, a lightly cooked dish of greens with grated coconut.
Kohila is always eaten cooked. Before cooking, the sliced rhizome is often soaked briefly in salted water.
How Is Kohila Cooked in Sri Lanka?
Kohila curry is a home-kitchen staple, especially in the south and west of the island. The sliced rhizome is simmered with coconut milk, onion, curry leaves and spices, and often with dried fish. Because the flesh is dense and fibrous, it needs a relatively long simmer, and the result is a thick, earthy curry that pairs naturally with red rice or one of the island's traditionally grown paddy varieties. Kohila is also tempered and stir-fried with onion, chilli and mustard seed, and its firm texture makes it a popular stand-in for meat in plant-based curries.
Outside Sri Lanka, cleaned kohila rhizome is sold to cooks who want to make these dishes at home. Lakpura® Kohila Ala is the cleaned rhizome, ready to slice and cook.
Kohila and the Arum Family
Kohila belongs to the Araceae, the arum family. Its genus, Lasia, is small: besides Lasia spinosa it contains Lasia concinna, a rarer species of Borneo. In the kitchen its closest relatives are other edible aroids such as taro, Colocasia esculenta, and giant taro, Alocasia macrorrhizos, both also grown in Sri Lanka. Unlike taro, which is a dry-land crop grown for its starchy corm, Kohila is a semi-aquatic plant whose prized part is a fibrous, creeping rhizome.
Kohila in Village Tradition
Like many Sri Lankan village plants, Kohila sits where food and folk knowledge meet. It appears in the island's traditional medicine, Hela Wedakama, and ethnobotanical surveys across South and Southeast Asia record its leaves and rhizome in household preparations. These are traditional practices, not established medical uses, and Kohila should be enjoyed as a vegetable; anyone who is unwell should see a doctor.
How Is Kohila Harvested?
Wild harvesting is still common in rural communities: gatherers wade into shallow ponds and marsh edges to cut the rhizomes and pick the young leaves. Because the plant spreads vigorously through its creeping stems, it regrows readily, and where it is cultivated along pond margins it can be harvested as needed through the year.
Where Can I Buy Kohila?
In Sri Lanka, fresh kohila rhizome and bundles of young leaves are sold in village fairs and local markets, particularly in the wet zone. Cleaned and dehydrated kohila rhizome products are also made for longer keeping, and Lakpura ships Sri Lankan kohila worldwide.
