Cluster beans, known as Mattikaya in Telugu and Kothavarakkai in Tamil is popular in the north as Guar. In Malayalam, we just call it Kothavarakka, a slight variation in pronunciation from what its called in Tamil. I am a little confused about what Chitkaya/Chikkadikaya is? Is it another name for the vegetable in Telugu?
Anyway, I got a pack of it in the Indian store and immediately grabbed it, thinking I will try what my mom normally makes with it – an avial or a in a tangy gravy with ground coconut and tomatoes.
In the end, I ended up making a quick stir fry of it with elephant yam (chena). The combination turned out to be a winner and we loved it!
Clustered Beans Indian-Style with Yam
Ingredients:
Cluster beans – 2 cups, cut into 1″ pieces
Yam – 1 cup, cubed
Coconut – 4 tbsp, grated (optional)
Chopped garlic – 2 tsp
Shallots – 4
Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp
Jeera powder – 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Coconut oil – 2 tsp
How I Made It:
1. Cook the cluster beans and yam separately in water till they are tender. Cooking them together will make the yam bitter. The water used to cook the cluster beans should not be used since it will be bitter.
2. Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry the garlic and shallots. Then add the coriander, chilly and jeera powders and fry for another 30 seconds.
3. Mix in the coconut, yam and beans with some salt and leave it on sim for 4-5 minutes.Serve hot with rice and gravy.
Related Posts:
Broad Beans with Lentils
Beans Carrot Thoran
Mochakottai Sundal
Beans Usili
Avial
that is one good combo! the veg looks very appetising 🙂
Like chena a lot. Use it mainly for mezhukuparati.:D
I tried this and it came out good… Thanks…i used a little bit of khus khus and it came out crunchy….Karpore
this is an unusual combination. we call cluster beans kothamarakkya and make the usual thoran, aviyal and sambhar with it. I also make a maharashtrian version with peanuts! in marathi cluster beans are called gavar phali, i think.
Sig – yeah! I know what you mean. i just got lucky with the lighting for this one 🙂
We would like to feature this recipe on our blog. Please email [email protected] if interested. Thanks 🙂
It is so hard to make Thoran look good, but you have succesfully accomplished that! 🙂
Hi This is my first visit to your blog,you have a very nice one,I have never tried kothavarangai with yam,normally we make usili with this 🙂
cluster beans is my grandpa’s fav veggie, although I dont cook this much…nice one
Sis from T.N is not a fan of this veg..but you make me drool over over wonderful pictures and recipe!..
Everything abt your blog rocks!!!Keep it up..
This preparation looks quite healthy and yummy! Plz check my blog…have got something for you:)
I love cluster beans but avoid yam.
But your combination of the two looks really good, Nags.
The pic is beautiful. I love kothorangai stir fry 🙂 Not eaten Yam much. Mebbe, I should try it no?
very luring pics dear….luved ur recipe…recently I make this curry too
We make kottavarankai poriyal but ur curry sounds delicous 🙂
that is one good combo! the veg looks very appetising 🙂
Like chena a lot. Use it mainly for mezhukuparati.:D
I have never tried yam and beans together. That sounds like a good combination. Nice picture.
Hey nags, the pictures are divine and i feel like eatign some right now! Like sra said this is called Gorichikudukai in Telugu in most Rayalseema regions and I think in Hyderabad and some other Telangana regions of Andhra and Andhra region as well it is called Mattikaya – whats in a name right? I love this veggie 🙂
we make this at home….the recipe is a lil different tho…delicious!
I haven’t cooked with this in ages.. my mom only makes paruppu usli with this and I simply use beans as a substitute. This with yams is an unusual combination but looks very tempting.
Nags, and Shreya, in Telugu this is called goruchikkudukaya – I’ve come across the name Mattikaya only in the blogs and I’m guessing the name changes by region.
Chikkudukaya is what is known as avaraikkai in Tamil – the difference is that in TN, you don’t seem to get the variety nice and plump with well-formed beans, you get more of the flattish, subdued ones with not too many beans in the pod.
I like the combo of yam and kothavarakka….nice pics….
hi Naga, lovely combo. Great pics:-) I wish I could taste it now! We make it a lot at home, either just this veg or combined with paccha kaya (plantain, raw banana? i’m still confused!). In Telugu, this is called chikkadakaya, and long yard beans, which is payar in malayalam, is called borabatti.
That looks so amazing!
I could so have that for lunch NOW!
hi nags,,,in our hometown…we call cluster beans boro,..thnks for the info on different names,,,recipe looks interesting.:-)
The second pic is too appetizing!
Love the first pic…because i love cluster beans very much…but this combo is completely new for me, will try very soon naaga! thanks for sharing and very informative post too…
Sra – ohhh now I get it! No wonder even I was more familiar with chikkudukaya than I was with Mattikaya. I think I saw the term Mattikaya used in Srivalli’s blog.
boro.. now that’s another interesting name for the vegetable 🙂