Author: Maria Jose
Recipe type: Side Dish Cuisine: Kerala, Indian
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
Chena/Suran (Elephant Foot Yam) – 400gms, cut into bite size pieces (measured after cleaning)
Whole small onion – ½ cup
Whole garlic – 3, big cloves
Red chilli powder – 2-21/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Pepper powder – ½ tsp
Fennel (perumjeerakam) powder – a pinch
Hot water – 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ -1/2 tsp
Salt
Curry leaves
Coconut oil
Instructions
- Cook the cleaned chena pieces with salt till it’s tender (refer notes). Make sure you dont overcook them. It should retain a crunchy texture.
- Crush together the whole garlic and whole small onion using a mortar and pestle. Keep it aside. Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds. Add the crushed small onion and garlic and curry leaves. Fry it till it turns golden brown.
- Add chilli,turmeric, pepper and fennel powder and salt. Fry it till the raw smell goes, about 2 mins. Add hot water and mix well. Add cooked chena and mix well. Make sure the chena pieces are coated well with masala.
- Continue to cook on low flame for 5-10 mins, stirring in between,till it is roasted well. Remove from fire and serve hot with rice.
Notes
Since the chena I get in Bahrain, cooks in no time, I usually cook it on stove top, by boiling it with water and salt. Be careful while adding salt the second time, since chena is already cooked with salt.
