One more Handvo recipe, this time made with Suran and Ratalu making it a Handvo eligible for any fasting menu. While the glorious Ratalu/purple yam finds a prominent place in lot of our winter food preparations the Elephant foot Yam or Suran as it is called it Gujarati is not a root vegetable that the current generations prefer to eat much. I have always loved yam, growing up a stir-fry my mum made using it was a favourite. Suran na Paratha are another favourite.
Handvo to me is a comfort food, a one pot nourishing meal that gives the cook a break from rolling rotis. The Gujarati homemakers have been ingenious as well as adventurous in creating some fantastic takes on Handvo, a savory cake that does justice to all food groups as well as taste buds because a good handvo neither compromises on taste nor nourishment. With the amount of Handvo recipes I am sharing on the blog, I soon will have a category dedicated to it 😆.
The recipe shared here celebrates the foods we usually eat during fasting and hence makes a perfect lunch preparation during fasts.
The recipe is adopted for Farsu e Farsan by Danthi sisters in law.
Ratalu ane Suran no Handvo
Ingredients
- 500 grams elephant yam/suran
- 500 grams purple yam /ratalu
- 1/2 cup sago pearls/sabudana
- 1/2 cup shredded fresh coconut
- 1/4 cup roasted groundnuts, skinned and coarsely pounded
- 3 tablespoons ghee
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 3 teaspoons green chilies and ginger paste
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- a pinch of sugar
- salt to taste
- for Green Chutney
- 1 small bunch of coriander
- 1 cup mint leaves, loosely packed
- 1 green chilli
- 1/2 inch piece of ginger
- 1/4 cup fresh coconut, grated or shredded
- lemon juice
- a pinch of sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
Peel, wash and chop both the yams.
Pressure steam till done.
Soak the sago pearls for 1 hour.
Drain and spread the sago over a kitchen towel to let them dry completely.
Once the yams have cooled, mash them well.
Mix the sago, shredded coconut, coarsely pounded groundnuts, ginger +chilli paste, lemon juice, sugar, salt, 1 tablespoon of ghee to the mashed yams. It will all come together to form a dough.
Divide the yam dough into two equal parts.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
Prepare an 8 inch tin by greasing it well with oil (peanut oil preferred)
Grind together the chutney ingredients to prepare coriander and mint chutney. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water if needed. Taste to balance the flavours.
Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan, add the sesame seeds. Turn off the flame once the seeds begin to splutter.
Spread one part of the yam dough in the prepared tin. Using your palm press the yam mix to cover the bottom of the pan.
Now over the yam layer spread the green chutney. Spread the chutney so that it covers the entire layer of the yam mix.
Now over the chutney layer spread the remaining yam mixture and cover the chutney layer well.
Pour the tempered sesame ghee over the top, spread well.
Bake the Ratalu-Suran Handvo for 30-40 minutes unlit the top has turned golden brown.
If needed (If the top turns dry) spread some melted ghee on the top. It will encourage even browning and formation of good crust.
Notes
You can make separate layers of both the yams too. Same set of masalas will go in flavouring the mashed yams. The key to the flavours is balancing the sweet-sour- salt.
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