Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Surna Koot (Konkani style Yam pickle)

When I was visiting my mom in Bangalore, my aunt was visiting too.
She is a 'reuse' specialist and I dont mean that in a bad way at all...She makes quilts from left over bits of cloth, laddoos from whats remaining after she makes ghee at home, knits mobile holders from little strands of whats was used for some other dress...She is truly amazing in her art of reuse. Nothing, as in absolutely nothing goes waste in her hands...
This post is dedicated to my dear aunt...

Koot

From my list of requests, my aunt made this super duper surna koot. It spicy, tangy and goes with anything...this is the real finger licking good stuff !!
She also made an absolutely heavenly baked fish dish called 'hugga'. It was too good to resist and there was no time to photograph or write the recipe down.
It was just licked clean off the plates...She is visiting soon, so hopefully, I will get the recipe then.
She also made some canttola fritters, which will appear soon on this blog...

From her Konkani instructions, I had to write down this recipe and at times, it got so difficult to translate it, because we use some really cool words like 'khalkhali', 'charchari' which actually describes the sound of the yam when it is crisp enough - now, how was i supposed to get that across in English ?
This is what the fried yam looks like..You have to make do with the lack of 'sounds' here...

Fried Yam

What you need -

For the masala-
16 red chillies
2 tsps mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
tamarind the size of a lemon
1 tsp oil
salt to taste

1/2 kg yam

What you do with it -

For the masala-
Heat oil in a kadai and add asafoetida till it simmers
Add red chillies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and fry till the mustard seeds splutter
Grind the tamarind and red chillies first and then add the rest to it and grind to a fine paste. Add salt
This is the base masala and can be stored in the 'fridge.

Peel the yam and cut into really small pieces
Put these pieces in a colander and run it under water. Do not touch the yam with water - it can cause a real itch on your hands
Fry the yam pieces in oil - you can deep fry the pieces or fry with lesser oil on a small flame, till it gets really crisp

Mix the required amount of masala with the fried yam. This masala would be a little too much for 1/2 kg yam, so store the masala and use with fried potato, as a variation

17 comments:

amna said...

i love yams!! never seen or tasted pickled ones. bookmarked!!

Sig said...

I think all moms are the same, they don't waste anything! I have to take some lessons from my mom, I waste too much :(
Never heard of pickled yams before, looks great!

jayasree said...

Pickled yam.. Wow... I do make crisp yam chips. Next time i shall add the pickle masala too.

Pooja said...

looks spicy and tangy will try out this yam pickle.. we love yam a lot ! thanx for the recipe !

Vaishali said...

I love people who find innovative uses for stuff the rest of us ignore-- hats off to your aunt, Arch.
My dad's Konkani but I don't think I've ever tasted yam pickle before. Sounds just delicious.

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

I liked the way u told your story about Aunty. The story makes the dish yummier! Lovely dish too...

SJ said...

That 1st picture makes my mouth water!! Never tasted yam pickles yam fry gothu not yam pickles. Very new!

Manju said...

ive never had pickle with yam..but that picture makes me just wanna have some!1

lubnakarim06 said...

Looks spicy and yum...never tasted this pickle.....

Usha said...

Yam in a pickle ?? Sounds very creative and looks yum and spicy!

Deepthi Shankar said...

new to me, never had yam pickle

Varsha Vipins said...

Yam is one of ma favs n in the "missing" list...:P..pickled yam sounds so fab..never ever heard of this..looks like our kothu mango pickle..spicy one..yumm..:)

Pooja said...

Oh the yam pickle looks heavenly! Never had yam pickles b4!

Red Chillies said...

I have heard of Surna Koot, though never made it. We were not very fond of Suran at home. Bhari like dista.

kittymatti said...

I love yam!! My fav..I make yam deep fys but didnt know that i could make a picke!! this is superb! U have a lovely blog dear!

aparna said...

hi, first time to ur blog, very unusual recipe with yam , got to try. but, one question, how can we get rid of itchiness in throat when we eat yam. i always get it.

thnx
aparna

Varsha said...

Nice story and yumm pic...

Just a query...you make soorna koot without soi?!

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