Elephant Foot Yam Kabab – Veg Shami Kabab

About 2-3 days back I got a call from Sangeeta from Banaras Ka Khana. We chit chatted for some time and then she asked me what are you cooking? I told her I am making Yam Kababs  and then we discussed about Yams. Yam is a term used generally to describe underground tuberous roots  of genus Dioscorea, many of which are edible. They are available in various shape, colour and size. Sangeeta mentioned that she has seen Yam as big as 2-3 feet long when she lived in Jharkhand. I have never seen those but surely would like to see them.

This particular Yam, that is the Elephant Foot yam,  whitespot giant arum or Stink lily, Amorphophallus paeoniifolius. In India it is grown mostly in Kerala, Orissa, Maharashtra and A.P. In India it is popularly known as Jimmikand or Suran or Chenna.

Picture Courtesy Google

This picture I have taken is from Google Images. For more info on yam check here.

I tried making Kababs with them, and was happily surprised with the result. I used minimal oil for shallow frying. The Kababs had a nice crispy crust and  were very soft inside.

I had made them for dinner and had served them with oil toasted whole wheat bread, pudina dip and onions. Made a light but filling dinner for all of us.

Ingredients
500gms yam cut into cubes
5-6 garlic cloves
3-4 green chilies
an inch of ginger
a very small bunch of cilantro
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 tsp lemon juice
2-3 tsp cumin pwd
4 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chili pwd
salt to taste
bread crumbs

Method

Oil  the hands and then peel and cut the yams (they can cause itching). Boil them in water added with turmeric till soft. Drain the water completely.

In a food processor put the cooked and cooled yam, ginger, garlic, coriander leaves, lemon juice, all spices and grind to a fine paste. Remove in a plate, adjust the salt and then gradually add bread crumbs till you get a binding texture.

Make 2inch flat Kababs and shallow fry in low oil on a medium flame till the outer crust is nicely crisp and golden brown in colour on either side. These are very delicate and need to be handled gently, especially while flipping.

A perfect veg version of  Shami Kabab.

Serve with pudina dip, raw onions and tava toasted bread. I already have a  demand from my younger one to make them again.

For the Pudina dip

3-4 tsp mint laves

an equal quantity cilantro leaves

1/4 tsp cumin seeds

2-3 green chilies

4-5 tbsp yogurt

salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients together. Adjust the consistency later with water.

Sending this to WYF : Light Meal hosted by EC at Simple Indian Food
and to
 Kids Delight hosted by Srivalli.

Tips-

Add a sour agent like tamarind/ curds/ lime juice while cooking the yam, this helps remove the itching caused by the yam.

The Kababs can be used to make Burgers for kids. Just place in some lettuce and mayo in the burger buns along with the Kababs.