My Food Story: ‘Kanda Attu’ is all about memory, tradition and the taste of home

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

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Kanda Attu is more than a recipe. It is a piece of my family’s love, passed down from my grandmother to my mom, and now to me. Funny thing is, I used to hate kanda (elephant foot yam) as a kid. I couldn’t stand its smell or taste in any dish, except this one.

One random day, my mom made Kanda Attu with rasam and rice, and I instantly fell in love. The crispy texture with hot rasam rice became my ultimate comfort combo. Since then, every time I go home, I ask her to make it and she always does, with the same warmth.

It’s such a simple dish, quick to make, yet filled with nostalgia. I’ve shared it with friends too, and they loved it just as much. For me, this attu isn’t just food, it’s a memory, a tradition, and the taste of home, carried from my ammamma, to amma, to me.

Kanda attu

Ingredients

100 g rice

100 g moong dal

250 g elephant foot yam (kanda)

1 small piece of ginger

2-3 green chillies

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt (to taste)

Oil (for cooking)

Method

Soak the rice and moong dal together for 2-3 hours. Meanwhile, grind the yam into a smooth paste. Once the rice and dal are ready, grind them along with ginger, green chillies, cumin, and salt to make a thick batter. Heat a pan, spread the batter thin like a dosa, and drizzle a little oil around the edges. Cook until both sides turn golden brown and serve hot with rasam and rice.

Bhargavi Durvasula is a software engineer from Andhra Pradesh