Last week I got a mail from one of my readers, she is from Thiruvanthapuram, Kerala in South India. I born and brought up in that place. She wrote to me saying that I am preserving record of Thiruvanthapuram cuisine through my blog, and asked me to add non-vegetarian dishes in the recipe list. I told her I will try to add few non-vegetarian dishes too. I don’t blog too much about curries in my blog, as I believe a few sambar recipe is enough compared tens of sambar recipes with only ingredients change. If there is change in method of making it I prefer to blog about. This Chena Kadi /Elephant Yam Curry one of such long lost curry South Indian curry with less spice but with star ingredient coconut.
Chena kadi/Elephant yam curry is a traditional curry made in Kerala. You will be thinking why all of a sudden this curry. Because I can’t find fresh Chena /Elephant yam here, only frozen ones in Indian Stores which are tasteless. On my last trip to Indian store which specialize in selling south Indian stuff. I found fresh chena/ elephant yam. Only problem is that it is has a high price, yes 7.00 dollars for a pound. I never buy a produce with that much price, but this one I couldn’t resist and bought a pound.
I would love to add chena to several curries like Aviyal, Sambar and this chenakadi/elephant yam curry. Due to non-availability here, I won’t add it in my curries. While growing up I didn’t think about medicinal properties of this chena or elephant yam and I dislike them because their skin cause itching some time. It provides energy about 330KJ/100g (approximately) and rich in calcium. Potassium, phosphorous and magnesium are the key minerals found in elephant yam. It also contains trace minerals like zinc, copper and selenium, and is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B6, vitamin C and Vitamin A.
It is known to help to reduce Hypertension, and is also considered good for diabetes, hemorrhoids, acute rheumatism and muscle spasms etc.
Coming back to this protein rich curry, it is simple curry made with elephant yam, toor dal (spilt pigeon peas) fresh coconut, cumin and green chili. To make this curry, first cook the yam and dal separately and then mix ground coconut paste with cumin and green chili then topped with extra roasted coconut. We love coconut so don’t ask about amount we will not be making with teaspoon or tablespoon measurement will be either 1 full coconut or half coconut. Now fresh coconut is expensive here so I am come down to ½ cup ¾ cup.
This simple curry goes well with bowl of rice, and you can even serve with bread. If you can get fresh chena/elephant yam then try this delicious curry.
Chena Kadi /Elephant yam curry
Ingredients
- 2 cup chopped chena/elephant yam
- ½ cup toor dal/ Spilt pigeon peas
- ½ cup + ¼ cup fresh grated coconut
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 green chili
- 1 inch ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- Ping pong size tamarind ball
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon urad dal
- 1 leaves sprig curry
- 1 red chili
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker add chena/elephant yam and turmeric powder and cook for 2-3 whistle. Also cook toor dal in pressure cooker and set aside.
- Extract tamarind juice using tamarind and ¼ cup water and set aside.
- In a sauce pot add cooked chena/elephant yam and toor dal and mix well. To this add ground paste of ½ cup of coconut, green chili and ginger, tamarind juice and bring to boil. Add ½ cup water increase the amount of water depending upon the consistency of curry you want.
- In another pan toast the ¼ cup of grated coconut until it is golden brown in color and add it to cooked chena-toordal coconut mixture.
- In the same add 1 teaspoon coconut oil and mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and red chili cook until mustard seeds starts popping. Add this to cooked curry and mix well.
- Enjoy with a bowl of rice.
Notes
Cooked chena Then add toor dal. To this add ground coconut, cumin seeds, ginger and green chili paste Add this ground paste and tamarind juice and salt to chena and toordal mixture. Toast rest of coconut In a small pan make seasoning by heating coconut oil, urad dal, mustard seeds, red chili and curry leaves. Add seasoning and toasted coconut to cooked chena-toordal mixture.
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This is Swathi ( Dr. Ambujom Saraswathy Ph.D) from Zesty South Indian Kitchen who loves to explore cuisines from all over the world. Whenever possible I try to to give an Indian touch to several of the world cuisine, and has weakness for freshly baked bread. All the recipes you see here are created by me and approved after taste-test by my family.
Ruxana says
Yummy and flavorful
Jennifer A Stewart says
I am excited to try this recipe. I have bever seen an elephant yam but I have an Indian market nearby. I have not had the time to visit it but I am so excited. I use pigeon peas in my rice dishes, most people haven't seen or used them here in South Georgia, but they are so good. What a great bowl of comfort food!
Sarah | Away From the Box says
I've never heard of elephant yam, but this recipe looks delicious! What a great combination of flavors!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I love Chena as well and miss it so much here. I make sure I eat a tons of it when I go back to India. There are times when I also spend this much on a vegetable that I am craving to eat. The Chena kadi looks delicious and I will make sure to try making this during my next trip to India.
Manila Spoon (Abigail) says
I have never heard of elephant yam so I am totally intrigued! I can imagine how tasty this must be though as I see tamarind added as an ingredient and we love using tamarind in the Philippines, too!
Manila Spoon says
I have never heard of elephant yam so I am totally intrigued by this dish. I can just imagine how tasty this must be so as I see that there's tamarind in there which is quite popular in the Philippines.
Noel Lizotte says
I'm always curious to learn about new ingredients. There are several on your recipe that are new to me. Elephant ear yam is one. Wow @ $7 per pound, I'm not sure I'd buy too many either!
I'll have to see if I can find one at any of the markets around me...
Kim Lee says
Love all of the spices you used! I'm sure this app/spread is incredibly flavorful!
Gloria @ Homemade & Yummy says
Wow their a ingredients in this dish I have never heard of. Sounds very intriguing and full of flavour. Not sure I can find elephant yam here, but I guess I could sub in another variety and it would work.
Kylee from Kylee Cooks says
I love curry, any way I can get it. I love that you are sharing authentic cuisine that I can't find anywhere else! What is a tamarind ball, and where could I buy it?
Byron Thomas says
Another wonderfully looking and inspiring dish! I love reading your recipes because I'm always introduced to ingredients I wouldn't normally use in my kitchen. Thanks for that!
Julie | Bunsen Burner Bakery says
Like many other commenters, I have not heard of elephant yam before. I will keep an eye out at our indian grocery because this sounds great - we love coconut, too!
Kathy McDaniel says
I have never heard of elephant yam before and now I am totally intrigued. Sounds like a wonderful and good for you curry!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
I have to agree also I've never heard of elephant yam but am definitely loving a lot of the flavors you've used here. I'm a big fan of coconut as well so I know this has to be Yummy!
Veena Azmanov says
Oh this looks so authentic. You roasted the coconut too! I can actually smell the lovely spices.. Delish!
Natalie | Natalie's Food & Health says
This dish sounds delicious. I had to google elephant yam tho' 🙂 I love spices you used here. Would love to be invited at your dinner party. I like your cooking 🙂 Sharing and pinning!
Srivalli says
That's a wonderful way to cook yam..I am quite partial to kerala cuisine and make it frequently. Though must say haven't tried this curry. Very interesting one. Some say that yam irritates, so pressure cooking removes that?
platter talk says
OK. After I post this, I have to google elephant yam, since they are new to me, too. I will say that is a beautiful looking soup with a great combination of flavors and ingredients.
Michelle @ Vitamin Sunshine says
I agree! Buying frozen or premade Indian food just never has enough spice. Fresh is totally the best!
Mark, CompassandFork says
Firstly, this looks deliciously inviting and healthy. I live in Melbourne and we are blessed with good, Indian restaurants and supermarkets. I am not sure if he stocks elephant yams but I am going to find out as I love trying new things.
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I've never heard of elephant yam before, but this looks so incredible -- and the spice blend has me drooling! Just perfect!
Megan Marlowe says
I'm with Thanh and Sarah, I have never heard of an elephant yam before. I am so intrigued! This curry looks delicious though!
Meg | Meg is Well says
I had to do a little internet research on the ingredients-that's one of the biggest obstacles when it comes to trying to teach myself Indian cooking-but it's so awesome that you're preserving and sharing your culinary cultural heritage with the world. Now that I know what chena is I'm going to keep an eye out for it at my local Asian market so I can snatch it up and try this!
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes says
I've never heard of elephant yam before! Is it different from regular yam? (I assume it's bigger.) This looks delicious!
Thanh | Eat, Little Bird says
I've never heard of elephant yam but I'm sure this curry must be delicious! I like your step-by-step photos.