In this post, I am going to share an easy and tasty recipe prepared using ‘Suran‘. Suran which is also known as ‘Elephant Foot Yam’ or ‘Jimikand’ is a large tuber. It looks like a hard rock with dark brown outer cover and light pink or beige from inside. It is hard to cut but once boiled turns soft and mushy. Suran is itchy in nature and might cause itchy hands and throat. So always use some sour agent while cooking it. I typically use Kokum (garcinia indica) which not only helps to remove itchiness but also enhances the taste of the Suran.

At my home, we commonly prepare 2 kind of Suran recipes – Fried Suran kaap and Suran gravy bhaji. In this post, I am sharing recipe of gravy bhaji using coconut-onion paste and it is super delicious. It is spicy and little tangy gravy with meaty chunks of Yam.

In UK, frozen suran is easily available in Indian grocery stores. I typically use frozen ones as it is already cleaned and diced. Otherwise, in local African farmer’s markets one can find fresh suran. Incase you are using fresh one, thoroughly wash to remove any dirt or soil then peel off its outer brown cover. Again wash with warm water and dice it. As mentioned earlier, it has itchy properties, so apply some souring agents either kokum, tamarind, vinegar or lemon juice after cutting. And then it is ready to use for our recipe.

Ingredients:

300 gms of diced Suran

1/2 cup of shredded coconut

1 big onion ( to make paste)

1 small onion

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

4-5 Kokum (garcinia indica)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

2-4 tbsp oil

1 tsp salt

Water for cooking

Method:

Thoroughly wash and clean the suran. It is little hard to cut, so carefully dice it. Don’t forget to apply some kokum/tamarind etc to it after cutting.

Incase using frozen suran then we’ll use same directly in the recipe as its already cleaned and diced.

Next we’ll prepare base coconut-onion gravy paste. In hot pan, add 1 tbsp of oil and once it is hot add sliced big onion. Saute it occasionally and when it turns translucent, add shredded coconut into it. Stir them in between and let it turn slightly brown in colour. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down to room temperature. Grind the mixture into thick fine paste using minimum water.

Again switch on the heat and take a wok or kadhai. Add 2 tbsp oil into it and once oil is hot add mustard seeds. It will start spluttering and then add finely chopped onions into the wok/kadhai.

When onion turns translucent, add powdered spices ie. turmeric, red chilli, kashmiri chilli, coriander powder one after the other. Next goes in – ginger garlic paste into the kadhai. Mix everything well, if required add little water. Once raw smell of spices goes off, add diced suran into it. Add about 1 cup of hot water, stir everything together. Cover it and let it cook on high-medium heat for 8-10 minutes. This helps to soften the diced suran.

Next add prepared gravy paste into the kadhai. Also add garam masala and kokum along with gravy into it. Give a quick stir, cover it and let further cook on medium-low flame. When oil starts releasing from the sides of the pan, our gravy is cooked. Take one suran piece and see if it can be pressed between fingers. If suarn is soft that means our bhaji is ready to serve.

This ‘Suran Bhaji’ can be enjoyed with chapati/phulka or even goes well with plain rice. I hope you liked this recipe and let me know incase of any questions or feedback.