CHENAI TAWA ROAST ( YAM ROAST )

Chenai is known as Elephant Foot Yam in India. It is a favourite vegetable of the Keralites & is used in a lot of their dishes. It is grown in the backyard of almost all the houses in Kerala. The recipe i am giving today was given to me by my Sister-in law who got it from her grand mother. It is a yummy dish & is a vegetarian substitute for fish fry.

Preparation Time: 15 mts Cooking Time: 20 mts Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Chenai - 250 gms

Tamarind - small lime sized ball
Besan flour (kadalai mavu) - 2 tbsp

Rice flour - 1 tbsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Refined oil - 2 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Method:

Remove the outer skin of the chenai. Slice it in to thin 1 inch square pieces. Squeeze the tamarind in 1 cup of water. Mix the besan flour, rice flour, chili powder, turmeric powder & in a plate. Put the chenai pieces in the tamarind water & boil till the chenai is cooked. Drain the water & immediately roll it in the mixed flour. Heat a tawa & grease it with oil. Keep the pieces on the tawa. Pour oil all around & fry it on both sides till it

is golden brown. Chenai tawa roast is ready.

Variations:

Instead of making tawa roast, we can deep fry it in oil. The flour mix should be made in to a paste. The pieces should be dipped in to the paste & fried.

Tips:

1. We can add asafoetida powder to the flour mix to give a nice flavour.
2. Make sure that the chenai stays firm & is not over cooked.
3. Sometimes the yam will be very hard. In such case, it can be cooked in a pressure cooker.
4. Chenai has to be boiled in tamarind water or else it will irritate the tongue.

Taste it & enjoy.