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
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….
I have never tried yam and beans together. That sounds like a good combination. Nice picture.
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 🙂