Chena puzhungiyathu (Elephant foot yam)

ചേന പുഴുങ്ങിയത്   (Elephant foot yam)

Year end is vacation time and while traveling back home I had a chance to enjoy the old style 'chena puzhungiyathu' with some small onion and green chilly chutney. It was so delicious and nostalgic that I thought I will write about preparing 'chena' as a main dish this time. For those who do not understand what is 'chena' it is called the elephant foot yam in English. Many in our generation wouldn't know that chena can be prepared as a main dish.

Beware: Before you jump in to preparing yam, please be aware that excessive skin contact with the yam fluids can cause itching to many people. So it is advisable using a pair of gloves while working with the yam. In case you get an itching or skin rashes, washing with cold water or applying some coconut oil can be helpful. 

Ingredients:
Elephant foot yam - remove outer skin, cut in to pieces.
Grated coconut -As needed.

For the chutney:
Small onion - 6 no,
Green chilly - 4no,
Salt -As needed.

Method of preparation:
It is pretty easy to prepare the yam. Clean the yam, remove the hard outer peel, cut it into pieces of 2 inch size approximately, and boil it in water with some salt. That is pretty much what it is.

Here is the detailed steps. Take the yam, remove the outer skin and wash clean. Again beware of the skin allergy that the yam fluid can cause. Cut into small pieces of 2 to 3 inches in size. Take enough water in a vessel so as to cover the yam pieces. Add a pinch of salt. You can use a pressure cooker as well. However, turn the flame of after the first whistle itself, otherwise the yam can become over-cooked and watery.

Once it is cooked, drain out the excess water and add some scraped coconut on top (coconut helps to increase the taste as well as any itchiness that some people might experience). Serve hot with the green chilly chutney.

Preparation of green chilly chutney:
Smash the small onion and green chilly together, and mix with salt. Add coconut oil into this and mix well. The coconut oil added into the chutney will helps to reduce spiciness and increase taste of the chutney.