Saturday, April 7, 2007

Khatte jimikand te vesan wali poori :)

Yes, its K for Khatte Jimikand :). Jimikand is the single Punjabi word for a certain type of tubers. Possibly originating from a merger of Zameen (Earth) and Kand (tuber), jimikand/jamikand refers usually to Amorphophallus (Suran), the more common yam available in Punjab, and occassionaly to the Pink Yam (Ratalu-Gujarati) or Dioscorea. The former variety is also jokingly referred to as "Haathi Futta", meaning Elephants Foot, because of the huge frame :). Both varieties are equally delightful to eat, the pink/purple being sweeter.

Nupur's post on Ratala-kees and the comments therein bring out some interesting points about the nomenclature of this group of vegetables. Apparently Ratala is the Marathi name for sweet potato and whats Ratalu (Pink yam) in Gujarati, is Suran in Marathi. Please share any trivia on this nomenclature.



For this post, i started out looking for the regular yam (which sometimes makes appearances in the Indian stores). However, not having found the elephant foot, i decided to settle for the pink yam. And boy, did it work! with a brilliant color to boot :). So, lets make the K for Khatte Jimikand today: its equally delicious with whatever kind of jimikand we can use, and even other tubers e.g shakarkand (sweet potato), potato and any other tuber :).

We need:

  • Two medium sized pink yams or one big haathi futta
  • 1/4 onion (chopped): optional
  • 1 big, ripe tomato (cubed)
  • 1/4 tsp. each Shah jeera (Black Cumin) and Kalonji (Nigella seeds)
  • 1-2 Green chillies (optional)
  • Turmeric
  • Red chilli powder (to taste)
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Lime/lemon juice
  • 1/2-1 tsp. oil for saute'ing
  • Fat-free cooking spray for baking
First of all, lets wash, peel and cut the jimikand into big cubes. If its difficult to cut, microwave 1/2 minute and then cube the yam. Traditional Punjabi yam recipe call for the cubes to be deep fried-we would reach for our oven instead and bake these cubes (high heat/15 minutes, with frequent turning). While the yam cubes are baking, lets make the gravy base. In hot oil, splutter the shah jeera, followed by kalonji. Fry chopped onions (if you are using onions-tastes equally good with or without onions). Now add the cubed tomatoes and cook to make a thick sauce. Add turmeric and chilli powder (to taste). Add the baked jimikand cubes and salt to taste-mix and add water. Cook on low heat after covering the pot till the gravy thickenes and smoothens out. We are almost there. Before serving, squeeze some lime/lemon juice to get the desired level of tang. Add chopped green chillies, cover and let sit for 5 minutes or so. Serve hot with phulkas (chapatis), paranthas, plain rice or khichri of your choice. Extremely simple, gorgeous to look at, especially if one uses the pink yam and absolutely no frills.

The green chillies add a distinct aroma and color (green on orange, isn't that delightful). Chop them coarse or slit into halves, if you don't like the heat :). That way you get the "khushbu" and can escape biting on chillies.


The regular yam is also prepared in this way, sometimes with potato and sometimes with matar. But the pink yam tastes best all by itself, hogging the limelight, in all its colorful glory.

I served this delicious sabzi with Vesan waaliyaan pooriyaan (besan pooris). I rarely make pooris, infact it was more than two years since i had made pooris!! So, why these pooris, you may ask. Hey, i like pooris.....but they are heavy, so i usually avoid them for dinner, and i am hardly home for lunch on weekends :)). But this time i got nostalgic.....for these were the special pooris Mom used to make sometimes.....even Bibiji (my Grandma) made them occasionally. Thinking of all that, i felt i craved those pooris.....so, lets roll :)

Vesan waaliyaan pooriyaan:



We need:

For the dough:

  • Preferably a half and half all purpose and whole wheat mix (i used 1/4 all purpose, 3/4 whole wheat)
  • Ajwain (1 tsp)/cup of flour
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/4 tsp. sugar (keeps the pooris crisp)
  • 1/2 tsp oil (Oil/ghee added to the dough is called mon, moyan or mohan)/optional (i didn't use it-you may use it if you like your pooris eternally puffed up ;))
  • Jeera and Dhania (Cumin and Coriander) seeds 1/4 tsp. each-dry roasted and ground
  • 1/2 tsp. Kasuri methi (dried methi leaves)
  • Enough water to make a stiff dough
Make a stiff/poori type dough with all these ingredient and let rest for 30 minutes or so.

For the batter:

  • Besan (gram flour), salt (just enough for a lil' savory touch), a pinch of red chilli powder and enough water to make a thick batter (like we make for pakoras).
To make the pooris, roll out small pooris-dip one side in the besan mix and fry, starting with the batter dipped side facing oil. Fry both sides, drain the oil and serve hot with your choice of sabzi/bhaji. One of the four pooris in the first picture (the top one) is a regular poori :).


These pooris are heavy because of the besan and also they don't puff as much as regular pooris, but are really fluffy to eat. Enjoy :).

And if you are not into fried foods, no worries, the Khatte Jimikand is delish with plain whole wheat phulkas, as i said.

I also make jimikand koftas and kababs (both baked)-more on that later :).

My lil' contribution for Nupur's great event celebrating the A-Z of Indian Vegetables, featuring the "K" vegetables this week. Nupur, i hope i made it in time.....and thanks a ton for this delightful event :).

30 comments:

Coffee said...

AAAHHHH!!!!!! My favourite sweet potato!!!! I didn't know it was known as jimikand...... ratala, ratalu, sakarya are the more commonly known names....... nice thing to go with puris!!!!!!!! :)

FH said...

Great combo! Both are mouthwatering.I didn't know Jimikand was Yam!!!I make dessert with Yam but you have a taught me a new dish!!Thanks Musical:)

Nupur said...

What a great entry, Musical! That combo looks like a real treat!

TNL said...

Now those Puris are something I'd like to get my hands on! Never added besan to pooris...should be good with that "ratalu" curry...Can't get any authentic than this, Surili!

Hope you're enjoying the weekend,
Trupti

musical said...

Coffee:

I love all kinds of tubers :). Spuds rule! But i didn't know that sakarkand and this yam are known by the same in Gujarati (i should go, hide some where). In Punjabi, sweet potatoes are called shakarkandi :). Thanks for the trivia :).

Asha akka:

Thanks, i am glad you loved it :). What desserts do you make with yam. I must check Foodie's hope and Aroma :). Never used yams for desserts.

musical said...

Nupur:

Hey, thank you so much for dropping by and your kind words. I loved writing this up and love the concept of your event all the more :).


Trupti:

You always flatter me (blush blush-flutters the lashes). Try the bhaji also, i finished the whole thing in 2-3 servings!!

Bee:

Ah! i am sinner-that sounds good :)

Seema Bhat said...

Oh lovely yam curry and love those puris. I can see the snow flurries outside and this is the time when I would love to have this. Love it.

Richa said...

puri subzi te achaar tusi banalya, hun mae halwa lakey annia'
wow it's been ages since i made jimikand.
Sometimes I do get the pink yam for deep frying (no, deep frying is not a sin in my dictionary yet, he!he!) shakarkandi di chaat is my fav.
This combo is so good (goes to add jimikand in her grocery list)
thanks

musical said...

Seema:

Thanks, dear. Snow still! yes, when its snowing all kinds of crispies come to mind :).


Richa:

Zaroor laike aao-halwa poori khawaange te naal masala chah peevaange :) Haan, yaar shakarkandi di chaat mainu vi bahut pasand e(yum yum).

Linda said...

Hi Musical, very interesting to read about yam and I enjoyed the photos too! I admit I have never been fond of yams or sweet potatoes, so have not tried cooking them often -- your recipe might change my mind :)

musical said...

Hey Linda,

Thanks for the generous compliments.....Try this one, the swwet taste is very nicely balanced out by tomatoes and lime juice, add the green chillies, and it indeed tastes good. If you do try this, let me know how you liked it :).

Anonymous said...

never had besan puris and never made a curry with sweet potato. looks delightful.

musical said...

Hey Reena, thanks :)

Padmaja said...

never made a curry with sweet potatoes musical, i used to add in sambhar or in my roast veggies but never like this and i just can't wait to try u'r curry now!!
it looks amazing!!

Bong Mom said...

I like that name "JimiKand" :) What a lovely meal and you said you baked the yam and then added them, that definitely is a neat idea

Sia said...

i need to ban from blogging for posting so yummy dishes and tempting me:( girl... remember? killing me softly with ur RECIPES and PICS;)

musical said...

Paddukoti:

Welcome to my corner :). Will try this in roasted vegetable-thanks for that tip, dear :)

Keep coming :).


Sandeepa:

Thanks for the compliments (blush blush) :)).

I love baking vegetables instead of frying-just trying to be healthy ;)


Sia:

Hmm, so the stuff-master thinks i am the culprit ;). Who's been stuffing stuff and who's been making those enticing falafels and jeegujje bajjis!! and posting those really tempting pictures :))

Pelicano said...

Hey...this looks really good! I have never tried a dish with a masala seasoned like that, so my curiosity will get me to make this, especially since I just bought 2 sweet potatoes and was wondering what to make.
I've made chole in tomato/garlic sauce and have added sweet potatoes instead of regular...nice colour and flavour. This sabzi really stands out!

musical said...

Hey Pel,

thanks! its really a simple dish, but colorful and delicious to boot. Just try: with sweet potatoes or yam or any tuber :)

Richa said...

haanji! kidda?
wknd thuadda matar+pyaaz parontha bananda plan haega. naal kedi subzi banava? panir?

musical said...

Richa ji, bilkul wadhiya. Tussi sunao-ki haal chaal e. Matar-pyaaz di paronthi de naal paneer bahut swad laggega:brilliant idea. Banao te phir dasso, tuhanu kiven pasand aaye.

hugs,
musical.

Richa said...

ok ji! haal chaal bas thik, thoda sore throat jya haega, aes vastey golgappe te koi masaledar chija' nai kha sakdi :(
atthey weather change nai horya, still cold, bas dhoop dekhan vaaste taras raiya'
tusi naya ki try kitta?
hugs

Sharmi said...

Hi frist time in this blog and dont know how I missed it. so many lovely dishes. I loved all the recipes,especially all the paronthes and the beasn puri looks so yummy. will be regular now on!!

cheers
sharmi

musical said...

Richa:

Get well soon dear, we can have some misal then. sending you lots of sunshine :)


Sharmi:

Hello dear and welcome to my corner.....you have a great blog, i certainly was missing out on a lot. i love the name of your blog.....

Richa said...

thanks for your wishes and sending some sunshine this way, means a lot to me.
ek draft ready haega, shayd ajj post karangi, kuch bhi hojay par blogging nai chuttda he!he!

musical said...

Haan ji, aaj main vi post karangi: dried mushroom-paneer sabzi

Looking forward to the next surprise :)

Kajal said...

Hi Musical,
Good recipe of besan pooris.
Also I love your pink yams so I try your dish together.
Thanks for sharing.:)

musical said...

Hey Kajal,

i love this combination. Do try, i am sure you'll like these.

Thanks,
musical.

Foodie said...

I loved your recipe, but aren't you guys missing out on something.
As far as I know what you used for your recipe is actually sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes sometimes are called yams in US because they are specifically grown in southern part of US also known as Louisiana yams. These southern people wanted their sweet potatoes to be called different because it had distinctive pink color to it.
Although resembling each other in many other respects, the true yam and sweet potato are not related botanically.
As far as indian version is concerned we call it sweet potato as the rest of the world calls it.
The off whitish variety, actually that is the real sweet potato.
Yams is all together a different tuber. There are may vaieties of yams available. Like Ratalu(purple yam) Suan (Elephant Yam), Guinea,' a popular white-fleshed variety; `Congo Yellow' and `Guinea Yellow' are yellow-fleshed varieties; purple-fleshed varieties are `Purple Ceylon' and `Mapuey Morado'

musical said...

Foodie,

THanks! I did indicate this in my post that the real yam is called Amorphophallus! or jimikand. Since its not available here, i duplicated the recipe with sweet potatoes! I did say that both purple (ratalu) and white yams are called jimikand in Punjabi. sweet potatois called shakarkand in Punjabi.