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Senai Kizhangu Varuval-Elephant Foot Yam Fry (tawa fry)

December 9, 2013 by PadhuSankar 19 Comments

Elephant Foot Yams can be used to prepare a variety of dishes like yam roast, masiyal, kootu, chutney, kababs, cutlets etc. It is know as Suran in Hindi, Senai Kizhangu in Tamil and Chena in Malayalam. The highest consumption of the elephant foot yam is in Africa, followed by some Asian countries such as India. Let us see a few health benefits of elephant foot yam before going to the recipe. Yam is high in fiber and is considered to be a healthy low-fat food. So it is said to promote weight loss. It is a rich source of essential fatty acids which are known to increase the good cholesterol levels in the blood. The elephant yam is widely used in the treatment of patients suffering from piles.It is a natural cure for constipation and irregular bowel movements.Yams are also a good source of vitamin B6, it provides relief from pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) as well.Yam offers special health benefits to people with diabetes as it has a very low glycemic index. It is also a good source of potassium, magnesium and phosphorous and has traces of minerals like selenium, zinc and copper. It provides relief from hypertension as it produces cooling effect to the body. Today we will learn how to make senai kilangu varuval following this easy recipe.
Senai Varuval-Elephant foot yam fry

Elephant Foot Yam Fry

Prep time – under 15 mins
Cook time -under 30 mins
Serves -2

Ingredients needed

Senai/elephant foot yam -1/4 kg /250 grams
Tamarind – small gooseberry sized ball or 3/4 tsp tamarind paste

Spice powder

Chilli powder -1 tsp or as needed
Coriander powder -1/2 tsp
Cumin powder -1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Kadalai mavu/besan/bengal gram flour -2 tsp
Hing – a pinch
Salt

Oil for tawa frying

Preparation

Peel the skin, wash and cut the yam into slices as shown below. It should not be too thin nor too thick. (Wear a disposable gloves or grease your hands with oil when cutting yam to prevent itching)

Soak tamarind in warm water, extract the juice and discard the pulp.If using tamarind paste, just mix it with needed water. Parboil  the yam slices in tamarind water adding turmeric powder and salt.

cooking senai in tamarind water

Drain the water completely. Add all the spice powder and leave it to marinate for 15 minutes. You can adjust the spices as per your personal preferences. Since we have added salt while cooking the yam, add less while marinating.

preparation of senai chips

Heat a tawa, arrange the yam slices, drizzle a tsp of oil around each yam pieces and fry both sides until golden brown. Repeat the same process for the rest of the yam slices.

Senai varuval-chips

Note -You can also deep fry the yam pieces if you prefer but I normally do not prefer deep frying.

I used freshly roasted cumin and coriander powder just to add flavor. It is optional.

More Elephant foot yam recipes

Senai Kizhangu Poriyal 

Health benefits references -wiki, whfood,health books

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Filed Under: Snacks, Uncategorized Tagged With: Senai Kizhangu-elephant foot yam, Uncategorized, Vegetable Curry, Yam




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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dhasarathan Pranavam

    December 9, 2013 at 6:49 am

    Super recipe,I like it.Thank you

    Reply
  2. nandoos Kitchen

    December 9, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    Healthy recipe and very informative post.

    Reply
  3. J SP

    December 9, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Hi padhu, did this fry today. I made into cubes and deep fried.it's a nice combo for rasam.loved it .

    Reply
  4. Yasodha Nikhita

    December 11, 2013 at 10:42 am

    I like recipes and enjoyed to cook specially tomato chutney

    Reply
  5. Snow White

    December 12, 2013 at 10:32 am

    yummy recipe…

    Reply
  6. Savitha Venkat Kumar

    December 12, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    Good & different one.:)

    Reply
  7. CR

    January 5, 2014 at 9:13 am

    This is a very good recipe. I really did not like the taste of Yam. But, Yam cooked with this recipe, tastes great.

    Reply
  8. Unknown

    April 12, 2014 at 3:29 pm

    how many minutes do you have to parboil the yam?

    Reply
  9. Jyothi Venkateswaran

    November 29, 2014 at 10:06 am

    Tried this today .came out well n tasted yummm..thanx for the lovely recipe

    Reply
  10. srinivas

    January 10, 2015 at 9:02 am

    Thank you for the recipe. Please reply me that, how many minutes we have to parboil the yam?

    Reply
  11. sangi.eline

    August 21, 2015 at 9:42 am

    simpler version is to add spices with two spoons oil and steam the yam in a cooker. one whistle with very very little water and cooked on low flame so that yam does not become mushy. then simply put the moist yam on a hot tava to get a nice colour. the steaming allows the spices to penetrate the yam well

    Reply
  12. Ankita Iyer

    December 3, 2015 at 9:52 am

    So easy to make, especially for beginner. I followed each step and it turned out to be very tasty. Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful recipe

    Reply
  13. megha r

    July 13, 2016 at 3:28 am

    CAN THIS BE COOKED IN COOKER ?? HOW MANY WHISTLES??

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      July 13, 2016 at 6:51 am

      If you cook in cooker, it will become mushy.

      Reply
  14. Aravind A

    August 30, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    Hello Madam!

    Is Senai & Karunai Kizhangu are same??

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      August 31, 2016 at 5:53 am

      Senai kizhangu and karunai kilangu are not the same.

      Reply
  15. RJIAO

    March 9, 2017 at 5:57 am

    Tried it today. Great recipe. Thank you. 🙂

    Reply
  16. Smit

    September 22, 2017 at 9:07 am

    Great job! Fantastic recipes. Do keep it up.

    Best wishes

    Reply
  17. Shankari

    March 28, 2020 at 11:06 am

    Hi padhu, I made this fry and it was very delicious. I have tried many of your recipes, every recipe has come out well. Thank you.

    Reply

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Meet Padhu, the Chef, the photographer, recipe developer and web designer behind Padhuskitchen which features Simple Indian Vegetarian recipes, healthy recipes, kids friendly recipes, Indian festival recipes, traditional South Indian Vegetarian ...

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