July 18, 2008

Yam Kofta Curry



While one thinks of preparing kofta curry, there are lot of option to prepare koftas with. Here is a recipe using the not so common kofta ingredient - elephant foot yam. In my house, yam/chenai is often cooked as mezhukkuparatti ( cooked and stir fried in oil), mostly along with raw banana or sometimes its only yam. Occasionally it features in arachukalaki and in porichakozhambu where cow peas, yam and raw banana are used and its almost like sambhar but taste differs because of the vegetables and grinding ingredients used. When I saw this recipe of Mallika Badrinath, I was happy that I could cook the very common chenai in a different form. This photos were languishing in my drafts folder for a very long time. At last, it has to wait for our dear Valli to announce the Curry mela to come out.

Here are some nutrient information of yam.

Yam is very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese. The tubers are believed to have blood purifier property.

Now have a look at the plant.




Another closer look.


Lets get on to the recipe now.


For koftas


Elephant yam - 1/4 kg
chutney dal/pottukadalai - 2 tblspn
cinnamon - a small piece
cloves -2
red chilly - 4
salt to taste
bengal gram flour- 2 tblspn
finely cut onions - 2 tblspn
oil for deep frying

For gravy


Chopped onion - 1 cup
tomato paste - 1 cup
turmeric powder - 1 1/2 tspn
red chilly powder - 1 tspn
dhaniya powder - 1 tblspn
jeera powder - 1 tspn
garam masala powder - 1 tsp
salt
oil

Grind together


1 onion
2 green chillies
1 inch ginger
1 tbl spn poopy seeds soaked in hot water for 10 mts

Preparing koftas


Remove outer skin of the yam. Wash and slice yam into thin broad pieces

Heat water in a broad vessel. When it stars boiling, drop yam pieces and remove from fire. Keep closed for 10 minutes. Strain and spread the pieces over a kitchen towel to dry up.

Grind red chillies, pottukadalai, spices for the kofta, together to a powdery consistency in mixie.Finally add salt and yam pieces. Grind to a coarse paste. Keep aside 2 tblspn of this paste to add to the gravy for thickness. Mix chopped onions and bengal gram flour to the remaining yam paste. Prepare small balls and deep fry till dark brown and keep aside.


Gravy prepration

Heat oil in a broad kadai and fry onion till crisp and brown. Add ground paste and stir till oil separates. Add salt and all the powders mentioned for the gravy. Saute for a minute and stir in the tomato paste. Cook for few minutes. Add yam paste and enough water and cook till gravy thickens.


Arrange fried koftas in serving dish ,pour hot gravy on top. Serve hot with chapattis or puris.

You can prepare the dish in two parts. Mixture for the koftas can be prepared and refrigerated for later use. Gravy and frying the koftas can be done together, later.

14 comments:

  1. lovely kofta .. haven't tried it with yam though .. looks yummy

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  2. Amazing idea to make koftas out of yam! Really different, and nice recipe.

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  3. Chenai in a kofta is most unusual. I would have never known looking at the picture.

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  4. THIS LOOKS DELICIOUS,..YAM KOFTACURRY IS SOMETHIN NEW FOR ME,..THNKS FOR SHARIN,..

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  5. yam kofta.. this is new to me.. Nice one thank you!!!

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  6. great entry dear....yam kofta is new to me too....

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  7. Yam kofta..what a creative idea looks yummy and delicious....Thanks for sharing..

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  8. Very nice koftas.... I love yam:) Looks delicious.... :)

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  9. wow yam kofta curry looks so yummy good choice for the event

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  10. Looks delicious!!Will try this.Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  11. delicious kofta curry! Nice recipe.

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  12. This is a lovely recipe..koftas with yam is a novel idea..

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  13. My sis made this once...I am yet to try it. Dish look tasty, Jayasree. I made mazhaikuvaratti last week. Unfortunately the yam gave me and daughter an unforgettable itch!

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  14. Your Koftas with yam look delicious, absolutely mouth wateriung. Iam definitely going to try it.

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