Easy Uzhunnu/Methu Vada with Tomato Chutney #coronatime

Unlike the ever popular parippu vada, making its cousin the uzhunnu vada takes some planning especially if this is your first time. So I conducted a thorough research mostly limited to you-tube food channels featuring vada recipes. The ingredients were common among the channels with some variations. But each had a trick or tip to make the process a bit easier, all of which I embraced wholeheartedly. VahChef, Mias's kitchen, Veena's curry world, Salu kitchen  and mrudula's cookbook were some of these channels. One thing I realized was that since I have a wet grinder I am better equipped to make the uzhunnu vada than most! With a wet grinder the batter gets naturally aerated and needs no hand beating.

Tips:

1. Soaking urad dal overnight is ideal but soaking for 2-3 hours is sufficient to get a good vada. 

2. Vada batter needs the least amount of water and a wet grinder is best to make this happen. Food processors are ok but the batter may need aeration by hand.

3. If using a mixer/blender, grind in small quantities and add water by the tablespoon. The batter should be more coarse than fine in all cases.

4. Batter consistency is achieved when a dollop of batter dropped into a bowl of water stays afloat. If it doesn't, then beat the batter with hands to add more air and check again.

5. Adding 1-2 tbsp of rice flour makes the vada more crispy and helps to reduce water content in the batter 

6. Do not add salt to the batter until the very end

7. To make vada on the same day, you can add a pinch of baking soda to the batter without having to cover and wait for it to rise for 1-2 hours.

8. Vada will be flat on one side if made in a 12" pan as opposed to a wok shaped pan where it can float.

9. Always wet your hands before handling the batter for cooking so it won't stick to your hands

10. For convenience, place the rounded batter on a wet flat spatula and make a hole before dropping into hot oil.

In The Mix

urad dal - 2 cups (makes about 24 vadas)

water - 10 to 11 tbsp

rice four - 1 to 2 tbsp

baking soda - 1/4 tsp

shallots - 2 peeled and chopped

long green chili - 1 or 2 chopped

ginger - 1.5" medium sized piece, crushed and chopped

curry leaves - from 1or 2 small sprigs, chopped

cumin seeds - 1/4/ tsp

crushed pepper corns - 1/4 tsp 

salt - to taste

oil - enough to cover at least half of the vada in a flat pan or for the vada to float in a wok like pan. I used a flat pan this to make 8-9 vadas in one batch.

How To Do

Wash and soak the urad dal for 2-3 hours, drain and add to the wet grinder. Add 4-5 tbsp of water and start grinding. Add the remaining water and grind to a coarse consistency. Use a small portion and check to make sure the batter floats in water.

Add rice flour and baking soda to the batter and mix well. Now add all the remaining ingredients except salt and combine all together with hands. Add salt to taste.

Heat oil and a keep a bowl of water handy. Wet your hands and take a small ball of batter and place is it on the flat end of a metal spatula. Make a hole with wet fingers and drop gently into hot oil using the spatula.

Repeat to drop more vadas into the oil and turn over a few times to cook. Ideally 1-2 min on each side depending on the heat of your stove. Keep it on medium high heat. Remove with slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and enjoy with coconut chutney, tomato chutney or both.

For Tomato Chutney

tomatoes - 3 medium sized, quartered

shallot - 2 peeled and quartered

green chili - 1 or 2 halved

curry leaves - 4 or 5 leaves

chili powder - 1/4 tsp

turmeric - pinch

salt to taste

oil - 1-2 tbsp

Heat oil in a pan and saute all ingredients together. Cover and cook on medium heat for 5-6 minutes and set to cool. Grind all together and season with some mustard and curry leaves. Enjoy with piping hot uzhunnu vada.

C for Coconut, Cliantro & Chutney

Chutneys can make or break a dish. In the case of dosas their role is larger than life. They come in various forms. In the guise of mint, coconut, tomato and lately even dates. I have yet to try the dates version. Long before I mastered (!) the art of making edible coconut chutney at home, we were patrons of 'dosa places' as they are generally called by the kiddos. Naturally what you eat first takes precedence over the latecomers in the taste ladder. While H and I were pretty happy with my humble coconut chutney, it was always difficult to get the kids to like it. Molu tolerated it but Kannan just would opt for the absent sambhar instead. Who has time to make the laborious and time consuming dosa and then sambhar too? We were lucky I managed to at least make a chutney! Lately though Kannan is more open to experiments and has latched onto cilantro as a flavor he likes. I started a quest to see if I can make a compromise chutney. That will give it a 4th C for compromise. In the process I discovered anything can be called a chutney so long as I have some coconut in it and some grinding is involved. Then as I was reaching the end of my patience, I chanced upon a few hotel style recipes. Thanks to these recipes and some trials I think I have now a recipe that is agreeable to all the clashing palates at home. Let us hope this is a long term solution to the chutney problem.

In The Mix

chana dal or bengal gram - 1/4 cup
fresh grated coconut - 1 cup
shallots - 1 medium diced
ginger - 1/2" piece peeled and diced
yogurt - 2-3 tbsp
green serano chili - 1 or 2 sliced
cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped
salt to taste
water - enough for the right consistency

for seasoning:

1 tbsp coconut oil
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
dry red chili - 2 each cut into pieces
curry leaves - 1 small sprig

How To Do

Roast the chana dal in a pan on high heat. Keep stirring and remove from heat at the first sign of color change to a darker shade. Grind together all the ingredients in the first list including the chana dal. Add enough water if the yogurt is not enough to keep the mixer going. Chana gives the restaurant like taste for Molu and cilantro gives the craved color to Kannan. Dad and mom are happy to eat anything made at home these days without specifications. Don't forget to add salt to taste.

Heat oil in a pan and add the mustards to splatter. Add red chili and saute till brown. You can add a pinch of methi/fenugreek/uluva if you like. I forgot it this time. Add curry leaves at the end, mix together and quickly remove from heat. They you can add the chutney to seasoning and heat for a short time or just add the seasoning to the chutney mix. Either way the chutney will come out ahead. Enjoy with dosa or idly. Despite the grand claims of hard labor above, I have found that the 'Sastha' brand of dosa batter is a good replacement for home made batter. Why not? Go ahead and enjoy your home made dosa with half the work if that is what keeps you going in the regular grind (pun intended) of life.

Varutharacha Thenga Chammanthi a.k.a Roasted Coconut Chutney

During my undergrad hostel years, it was always a treat when a day scholar would invite us to her house for lunch or dinner. Since I never had dosa at home growing up and could eat this only at restaurants it was a delicacy for me. I surprised myself the other day when I said 'masala dosa' without even blinking in answer to my daughter's query on my favorite food! Idli is what my grandpa liked and his wishes were command since my dad never bothered to use his veto power.  The homemade red chutney that came with the dosa at the homes of these friends had a certain tanginess and color that I could never reproduce. Yogurt and lemon juice only went so far. When I went to H's house during the first trip to India this year, the lady that came to help Hmom made this dry chutney that I thought was awesome. She said she had added ginger and raw mango though I suspect the fresh grated coconut and the flat stone manual grinder (ammikallu) that my Hmom still keeps added much to the taste. I had it in the back of my mind to give it a try when I got back. Things happened and I forgot all about it. That was until I started searching for Onam recipes and came across this chutney at Marias's Menu by chance. Decided to make it right away and although it called for tamarind instead of mango and I swapped my Krup's Coffee Grinder for the ammikallu, it came out pretty close to what I had been searching for! Thanks to Maria and the lady at Hmom's house this will now be a keeper. I intend to try again with mango instead of tamarind to see how the taste changes.

In The Mix

medium sized shallot cloves - 2-3 sliced
ginger - 1/2 tsp chopped
crushed dry red chili - 1 1/2 tsp
grated coconut - 1 cup
tamarind concentrate - 1 tsp
coconut oil - 3 tsp
curry leaves - 1 sprig

How To Do

Heat oil and add the curry leaves, onions, ginger and crushed chili. Saute till the roasted aroma rises. Takes 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut and mix well. Roast gently for a minute or two without browning. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Add the tamarind concentrate and mix together with a small fork. Add salt to taste at this time. The first picture shows how the chutney looks at this time. The tamarind concentrate made a bit darker than I thought but who cares when busily drooling away;-)

I found that the Coffee Grinder is a good tool to grind without adding any water. Just had to do it in two batches because the cup is so small. But it was well worth it.

As I bit into a dosa wrapped morsel with this coconut goodness, a childhood memory of alippazhams (hailstones) melting away on my tongue flashed through. Because my friends, that is how it felt! It was over so quick that I had to have another piece, and another and another just to make sure it was not all a dream. Coconut chutney in any form is a joy but this is pure heaven I tell ya!

Coconut Chutney for Dosa & Idly

I like seeing a blog entry every month. But normal home life is almost at a standstill with both kids being attacked by the most vicious of the cold and cough bugs going around. Trying to keep work commitments while planning alternate care for 2 kids who got sick one after the other is not fun. Trust me! Things have quietened down a little and so this is a last minute attempt to fill in the blanks with a draft I had for some time.

During  undergrad years most of us stayed on campus hostels but there were a few day-scholars living only a bus ride away. They used to graciously invite us to their homes once in a while to devour the delicious home made food which we were always happy to comply with. Having grown up in a dosa free household I was rather obsessed with dosa. Mainly with the eating of it:-) A lot of the credit for dosa's taste goes to the accompanying chutney in my opinion. Chutneys served in these friends' homes were always super yummy. Much as I tried I could never get a good chutney for my idly and dosa. But recently I did some adjustments to two of Mrs. KMMs chutney recipes and have achieved that taste closure. What is even better is that it is very repeatable. My husband even forgets the odd texture of the idlies - having been made with dosa batter in a hurry - and finishes away a decent bunch with aplomb all because of the power of the chutney. So here it is my beloved readers: a chutney worth making!

In The Mix
grated coconut - 1 cup
green chili - 2
ginger - 1/2" thin piece
shallots - 2 diced once or twice
fresh squeezed lemon juice - 3 tsp
yogurt - 2 tbsp
water - 1/4 cup or more as needed
salt - to taste

for seasoning
olive oil - 2-3 tsp
mustard - 1 tsp
shallot - 1 small thinly sliced
dry red chili - 3 or 4 torn and whole
curry leaves - a sprig or 2


How To Do
In a blender add together the water, yogurt and lemon juice. Add shallots, green chili and ginger and blend once. Add salt and add the coconut. Use ice crusher if using fresh frozen coconut. Grind well for a minute or two. Add salt and water as needed.

Heat oil in a pan and break the mustard seeds. Add sliced shallot, dry red chili and curry leaves. Saute for a minute or two. Add the chutney mix. Mix well, boil once and remove from heat. Eat with idly, dosa or both!

Chutney for Tapioca (Kappa) & Yams (Kachil)

We were making Chendan Kappa for a quick meal as we had some leftover fish curry and had some Kappa from a recent trip to the Chinese store. Then it occurred to me that it won’t be a bad idea to make some fresh chutney to go with it. So off I go in search of the easiest of chutneys that can be made. Mrs. KMM as always to the rescue! Here is the adapted recipe.

In The Mix:
Shredded dry coconut – ¾ cup
Green chilies – 2 or 3 sliced
Salt to taste
Shallots – 3 pods
Curry leaves (optional) -1 sprig
Yogurt – ¾ cup

How To Do:
Blend all the items except curry leaves and yogurt in a blender.
Add the yogurt and curry leaves. I didn’t add the leaves and still tasted great.
Keep chilled and enjoy with Kappa. Number of chilies and sourness of yogurt can be varied as desired.

Chutney turned out to be extremely tasty and went more than the fish curry!