Spicy Suran (Indian Yam) Tomato Curry

How to make elephant foot yam curry | Spicy Indian Yam - Sooran Tomato Curry |

Hello Friends,

Today's blog post is about very delicious Indian Yam Tomato Curry. Sharing recipe with step by step photos. 

Elephant Foot Yam aka Suran is a relatively hot, topical, starchy tuberous vegetable. It is cultivated all over India. It is astringent and pungent in taste.

Common Names of Suran

• Amorphophallus Paeoniifolius - scientific name
• Jimikand - Punjabi 
• Zimikand or zamikand - Hindi 
• Elephant Foot Yam - English 
• Ol or oal - Bengali 
• Chenai Kizhangu or Senai Kizhangu - Tamil
• Chena - Malayalam 
• Kanda Gadda - Telugu

Suran phobia - My unforgettable encounter with this vegetable! 

You need to take very good care in cutting and cooking this vegetable. Never ever consume this vegetable in raw form. I still can't forget that incident which affected my hands very badly I was in 8th or 9th standard! Wanted to help mom in peeling and grating Suran as mom was making kofta curry that day..


My sis is a big kofta fan and she insisted mom to cook kofta curry for her. Without asking mom, I had taken responsibility of peeling and grating Suran...


OMG!😱😢😭 after completing grating and pressing tightly and extracting juice from Suran, my hands felt severe itching and burning sensation and that lasted for many hours...


I can't tell you how painful it was for me, in fact, after that incident, I hated this so much that stopped eating this vegetable after that. 

If you know how to handle and cook this vegetable, then it will going be really delicious and healthy vegetable option for you!

How to handle this vegetable - how to cut yam without itching? 

• Wear gloves or apply coconut oil in your hands. 
• Never wet the yam before peeling the skin. 
• Always make sure it stays dry when you get rid of the skin.

How do I cook this vegetable?

• Peel and remove the thick skin.
• Cut them into medium sized cubes
• Keep chopped suran cubes in the water to avoid discoloration.
• I prefer blanching method for suran. Boil the water, add suran cubes and good quantity of salt (4-5 tsp) and a pinch of cooking soda in boiling water.  
• Cook it on high flame for 3-5 minutes, depending on the quality of Suran. 
• Throw off the foam appearing on the surface and then rinse under normal tap water.
• Drain the water, keep it aside until called for.

Health benefits of Suran

• Rich in vitamin B6 
• Good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C and minerals 
• Helps reduce bad cholesterol 
• Good for digestive system as rich in fiber
• Good for piles and constipation.
• Provide relief from premenstrual syndrome 
• Help in maintaining hormonal balance in females 
• Anti aging properties 
• Rich source of omega 3 fatty acids.
• Anti clotting properties 
• Good for diabetic patients as low glycemic index.

Let's get started 
Recipe details 

• Preparation time 8-10 minutes 
• Cooking time 15-20 minutes 
• Servings 3-4
• Cuisine Indian 

Ingredient required 

• 500 grams Suran - elephant foot yam
• 3-4 Medium size tomatoes 
• 2-3 green chillies or as preferred 
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1-2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder 
• 1-2 tsp coriander powder 
• Salt to taste
• Coriander leaves for garnish
• Cooking oil for cooking and shallow frying.

Method
♨ Step 1 Mise en place 

◾Tomatoes - wash - roughly chop and puree it.

◾Green chillies - roughly chopped and grind along with tomatoes. 

◾Suran - peel - blanch and shallow fry until gold brown.

♨ Step 2 Cooking time 

◾Heat oil in a frying pan. Add cumin seeds, let them sizzle and splutter.

◾Add tomato puree, cook it on medium flame for 3-5 minutes until nicely cooked.

◾Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and salt to taste.

◾Add water as per the curry consistency needed.

◾Let it start boiling. Add the suran cubes. Bring it to boil again, cover it with lid, cook it on slow flame for 5-7 minutes or until done. 

◾Garnish it with fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with your preferred Indian bread.

A quick recap