Vethala Valli Kizhangu Tikki

On my trip to the vegetable market, I found this yam. I have never seen this before and so asked a salesperson. She said it's vethala valli kizhangu or vetrilai valli kizhangu. So got one, after reaching home googled about it. It is called betel leaves tuber but coundn't get lot of information. It is a vine whose leaves are similar to the betel leaves and hence it got its name.

This is how it looks after you cut:

After a couple of clicks, I washed and chopped some and started to think what I could make from this. I boiled in water till cooked soft but not mushy. I dropped the idea of making any dry curry or gravy, since we had already finished our brunch. Thinking thinking.....finally decided to make a snack. Ideas is to substitute this for potato and make a tikki. Since, we have never tasted this, I decided to add some extra spices too. the end result was good. It was very tasty with our tea in the evening today. I was really surprised to get a lot of smiles from my husband and daughter for a totally new vegetable. 

Ingredients:

Vathala Valli Kizhangu tuber - 1/2 cup, chopped

Onion - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Salt -  to taste

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala - 1/8 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp

Green chilli - 1 small, finely chopped

Cilantro - 2 tsp. chopped

Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tsp

Bread crumbs - 1/4 cup (optional)

Seasoning:

Oil - 1 tsp

Fennel seeds - a pinch

Hing - a pinch

Method:

In a pan, add 1 tsp of oil. When it is hot enough add the fennel seeds, hing. Then add the onion, ginger garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minutes it onions are cooked and the raw smell disappears. Peel and mash the tuber a little. Add this to the onions in the pan followed by salt, turmeric, chilli powder and garam masala. Mix thoroughly and cook for 2 min. and switch off the gas. Now add cilantro and 1 tbsp breadcrumb. When the mixture is cool enough to handle, make tikkis. (You can coat the tikkis with a little breadcrumbs too, or add all it, mix and make cutlets). Pan fry them with a tsp oil, flip and again let it cook with another tsp of oil. Tasty tikkis are ready!

Notes:

When I was cutting it, the texture of it gave a feel like when you cut elephant yam. I started to boil it in water, but it took almost 40 min. for 1/2 cup.  A nice idea is to peel and then boil for cooking fast and easiness.When I was peeling, I felt like  peeling colocasia. It tasted exactly like colocasia. You could also try some curry with this tuber.