Northeast Indian
Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens)
Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens) is Northeast Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre and the cooked vegetable. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 3 cup yam, peeled and cubed
- 2 cup mustard greens, chopped
- 2 tbsp akhuni (fermented soybean)
- 2 dried red chili
- 1.5 cup water
- 1/4 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Peel the yam and cut it into small cubes.
- Bring the water to a boil in a pot and add the yam and the crumbled dried red chilies.
- Cover and simmer until the yam is nearly tender, about 12 minutes.
- Break the akhuni apart with your fingers and stir it into the pot along with the mustard greens.
- Simmer uncovered a few minutes more until the greens wilt and the yam is fully soft, mashing a few pieces against the side of the pot to thicken the broth slightly.
- Taste before adding salt, since the fermented soybean already carries a strong savory edge, and serve hot with rice; this boiled, low oil plate is genuinely quick, everyday Naga cooking, not the smoked pork version most outsiders picture.
Serve it with
A Northeast Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The protein alongside
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What it is eaten with
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens) carries soy. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | Yes | Aloo Pitika (Mashed Potato with Mustard Oil) |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Light
- Protein
- Low
- Food groups it covers
- Vegetables and Pulses
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Akhuni Yam (Fermented Soybean with Yam and Mustard Greens) takes about 25 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is easy going. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on yam and mustard greens.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from Northeast India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.