Kaachil Puzhukku

Kerala's steamed greater yam, crushed with a coarse paste of coconut, cumin, and green chilli and finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaves, eaten with rice gruel

Origin: Thiruvananthapuram & Kerala

From the journey of Yam.

Malayalam calls the greater yam kaachil or kaavuth, and it is one of the tubers that a Kerala household grows in the yard rather than buys. Puzhukku means boiled or steamed, and it names a whole family of dishes in which a starchy thing, tapioca, jackfruit, plantain, or a tuber, is cooked until soft and then crushed with a coarse paste of grated coconut, cumin, green chilli, garlic, and turmeric, and finished off the heat with raw coconut oil and curry leaves. It is eaten with kanji, rice gruel, or with red cowpeas, and it is monsoon and morning food. Kaachil appears in the ceremonial version too. Thiruvathira puzhukku, made for the December festival of Thiruvathira, boils a whole company of tubers together, kaachil, chena, chembu, koorka, sweet potato, and red cowpeas, dressed in the same coconut paste; the rule in many houses is that no garlic goes into the festival version. A note on names, since Kerala's tuber shelf confuses almost everyone. Kaachil is a true yam, Dioscorea alata. Chena, the elephant foot yam of kaalan and chena mezhukkupuratti, is Amorphophallus paeoniifolius, an aroid and no relation; chembu is taro; and koorka is the Chinese potato. Only the first belongs to this entry.

Ingredients

Yam

800 g kaachil (greater yam), peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
250 ml water

Coconut Paste

100 g freshly grated coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 green chillies
4 shallots (or 2 garlic cloves)

To Finish

2 tbsp raw coconut oil
1 sprig fresh curry leaves

Method

Put the yam in a pan with the turmeric, salt, and water, cover, and cook over a medium heat for 15 to 18 minutes, until tender and almost dry.
Crush the coconut, cumin, green chillies, and shallots together coarsely in a mortar or a few pulses of a blender. It should stay rough, not become a smooth paste.
Add the coconut mixture to the hot yam, stir through, cover, and steam over a low heat for 5 minutes.
Crush the yam roughly with the back of a wooden spoon, leaving some pieces whole.
Take off the heat, pour over the raw coconut oil, scatter with curry leaves, cover for 2 minutes, and serve warm with kanji or cooked red cowpeas.

Notes

Kaachil is sold in Indian and Caribbean grocers as greater yam, water yam, or purple yam; the flesh may be white or violet. The coconut oil goes in raw at the end and is not cooked; that is where the smell of the dish comes from.

The Gastrographer

Name: Kaachil Puzhukku
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thiruvananthapuram & Kerala
Ingredients: 800 g kaachil (greater yam), peeled and cut into 3 cm pieces; 0.5 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp salt; 250 ml water; 100 g freshly grated coconut; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 3 green chillies; 4 shallots (or 2 garlic cloves); 2 tbsp raw coconut oil; 1 sprig fresh curry leaves

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control