When I was taking the pictures at home in Kottayam (which explains the great light and the real banana leaf in the picture!), amma insisted that I highlight the health benefits of Yam, especially for women, so here goes:
– Elephant yam is naturally high in fibre content and our diet needs to be high in fibre for easier bowel movement
– It is high in Omega 3 Fatty acids which helps reduce bad cholesterol in the body and improves good cholesterol levels
– Consuming elephant yam, especially in women, increases estrogen levels which aids in maintaining the hormonal balance and also with PMS
– Yam is a cooling food so ideal if consumed in summer. Roasting or frying it helps reduce the adverse effects of eating a food that’s too cooling
There’s a couple more benefits like minerals and all but let’s get on with learning how to make yam fry, shall we?
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Yam Fry Recipe | Chena Mezhukkupuratti
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe source: Amma
Ingredients for Yam Fry:
3 cups of Elephant yam, cut into small cubes
5-6 dry red chillies
2 strands of curry leaves
1 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
1-2 cups of oil
How to make Yam Fry:
1. Boil the cubed yam pieces in salted water until the pieces are cooked yet firm. Don’t let them get to a mush. This will take about 5 mins. Make sure you add enough salt at this stage since it’s hard to adjust salt once the yam is frying. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan (there should be enough to cover the yam pieces so the amount of oil depends on the size of your kadai or pan).
3. Add the semi-cooked yam and fry until golden brown. When the yam is almost done, add the chillies torn into halves and the curry leaves.
4. Draining the yam from the oil will be a bit time consuming since they are small pieces so you can do what my mom does. She fries all the yam in one batch and once done, leaves the pan on a slanted surface and pushes the yam away from the oil and lets it collect over a period of time. Once done, gently transfer the yam from one side into another bowl.
This is a really easy recipe for yam fry that uses no masala or flavour except for the curry leaves. The yam has a beautiful flavour of its own and that will come out when roasted.
I love chena fry with moru kachiyathu or thakkali kuzhambu – pretty much any coconut-based gravies will taste great with it.
Great pictures. I make this fry like thin crisps for our fasting days, all the same flavors but this one cut in cubes must be a nice texture. I am assuming it is fried in coconut oil. Healthy.
yes my mom uses coconut oil, gives it a lovely flavour
Nags, have a question here about "Cooling food". I ve been hearing it since I was small, that ragi is cool, curd is etc .. I cannot get the concept right. I mean if I eat yam when its warm , still does it impart coolness ? Well it crossed my mind again now that I read ur post …
yes, from what i understand, it has to do with ayruveda and the concepts of vatha, pitha, kapha. the idea is that every person has a particular body type and so has benefits from eating particular foods. eg: you may notice there are some people who never feel cold, their body is warmer than normal, they are prone to catch colds very quickly, etc. so those people should ideally eat cooling foods to counteract this. right from childhood, my grandmom and amma would always refer to foods that way – like pineapple is a heating food so don't eat too much of it or your face will break out, or not to have too much buttermilk in the night since it's a cooling food and you may fall sick. i am not an expert but ia m sure there's lots of material online you can refer to.
Delicious! I love Yam!
A simple yet delectable curry!!! Loved this recipe 🙂
Looks super tempting. I am sure this recipe would rock. Wish I could taste some! Crystal clarity pictures 🙂
Love this with Keerai Masiyal… Yummy !!!
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delicious yam fry with so simple procedure…
It's pretty nostalgic to read the post.And made my day with the first photograph.Few droplets on the leaf makes you so happy and filled..Thank you Nags.
though i love this veggie i wont cook some one told me this is high in Fat ! nowthanks for the information ! now i am going for Yam !
i love this and back home my mom makes it almost every time. brings back old memories..love this Nags..beautiful clicks as always.