Shenaikezhangu Curry (Elephant leg Yam Curry)

Author: kittymatti / Labels:

Shenai kizhangu
Photo Courtesy: Padmini and Srinivasan



I like all kezhangus (tubers). How I miss this fresh yam curry... Here in the US, we get frozen shenai (Suran). In most Iyengar homes, tubers are cooked atleast thrice a week :) Shenaikezhangu is one of my favourite. Here is how we make Shenaikezhangu karamethu (curry).

Ingredients:
Chopped shenai (4 cups)
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1/2 tsp Sambar/ kozhambu podi
chilli powder 2 tsp
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp urad dal
oil 4 tsp

For fresh Shenai:

First check if you are allergic to this vegetable. If you are not, go ahead.
Clean well. Cut off the hard skin. Chop into small cubes. Transfer to a pot with boiling water. Add salt, turmeric and sambar powder. Allow the shenai to boil well till tender.
Drain the water completely.
Add oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, urad dal.
Transfer the shenai. Mix well.
Add red chilli powder and saute closed in low flame till nice golden and crispy.
I personally like shenai kezhangu karamathu with vatha kozhambu rice :) and mor kozhambu rice :)

For frozen Shenai:

I initially had lot of problems cooking frozen shenai. Thanks to my uncle Sriram and sister Aarthi, I have mastered the art of cooking this veggie.

Transfer the frozen pieces to a bowl containing water. Allow it to rest atleast for an hour. This is the best method to defrost this vegetable. Drain and cut the big chunks into smaller cubes.
Now add oil in a kadai, splutter mustard seeds, urad dal, add the chopped shenai.
Add salt, turmeric, sambar powder and chilli powder at this stage. Mix well.
Saute in low flame only. Keep closed and cook till crisp. Add more oil if necessary.
If you cook it in high flame, it gets unevenly cooked.
After all, this is a kezhangu, so be liberal with oil and cook slowly for a long time for best results.

4 comments:

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

wow, lovely blog... glad i came here. very nice recipes.. good job.

kittymatti said...

Thank u sooo much...

sunny said...

hi
im from sydney ..
whats the name of the vegitable in english?
btw wonderful blog keep em coming!

Anonymous said...

it is yam (elephant yam)

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