Maddur Vada | Maddur Vade ~ Tempting Snack from Karnataka

There are always certain dishes that evoke nostalgic memories that make you feel wonderful. Maddur Vada is one such dish for me. It's been so many years since I tasted this dish. Maddur Vada if you must know the history is sold in a place en route to Mysore from Bangalore. This tempting, delicious snack gets its name from the town Maddur where it got popular.

We used to visit Mysore almost once a year during summer vacation. And during the halt, getting a pack of this Vada was a must. What with Daddy's staff packing a huge parcel of this, we used to enjoy it on the way to Mysore. Those frequent visits were during my high school and Mysore was like a summer house for us. I remember writing about Uncle B and the wonderful memories that he created for us.

When I decided to make the Maddur Vada, I remembered Uncle B and missed him. He was such an awesome human being. I wish I could get in touch with his family but regret loosing contact with them.

As I made these vadas in a hurry, will surely be making them again to enjoy them in leisure. The ingredients are so commonly available, I really wonder at myself at how I missed making it all these years.

I adapted this from Lathamma's recipe and added ingredients roughly. Must be almost half of the quantity she mentioned.

 

Ingredients Needed:

Rice flour – 1/2 cup
Rava / Semolina – 1/2 cup
All purpose flour / Maida – 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Ghee 2 tsps
Hing – 1/4 tsps
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Finely chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves – 2 tablespoons
Finely chopped Onion – 1/2 cup

Oil for frying

How to make Maddur Vada

Take all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix everything together and slowly add water to form a stiff dough

Heat oil in a kadai on a medium flame.

Pinch out equal balls from the dough and flatten them on your palm. The discs should be thin in size so that these turn out crispy.

Check the temperature of oil by dropping a small piece of dough into the oil. If it rises immediately the oil is ready for frying.

Fry the vadas in medium to low fire in batches. Drain them on a kitchen towel.

Notes
You can flatten all the vadas and keep them on a plate before you start frying.
These will make a great snacks to pack for trips as this is supposed to stay good for 3 days.

Moong Dal Carrot Vada , Uddi Bonda | Ganesh Chaturthi Recipes

Meddu Vada  or Masala Vada is mostly made during all festivals. For a change we think of making different varieties. I had plans to make Maddur Vada, but Athamma had soaked Urad Dal so decided to make something with that itself. 

Amma had the same problem too. Dad was very much against the same Meddu Vada being made. So she opted for this tasty fritters, though it's deep fried I guess you can indulge one in a while. 

Today being Sunday kids have been enjoying their holiday, it's been a lazy day all together. Not much of cooking done, as we went for fresh salad and simple rasam. After the heavy festival eating, I felt this simple meal was refreshing.

Moong Dal Carrot Vada | Pesara pappu Carrot Vada

Ingredients Needed

Split Yellow Moong Dal / Pesara pappu -  1 cup
Carrot - 2 medium, grated
Onion - 1 medium
Coriander leaves
Curry leaves
Salt to taste

To be ground :
Garlic - 1/2" , Green Chilies 2 nos, Whole Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

How to make Moong Dal Carrot Fritters

Soak the moong dal for 2 hrs. Drain and grind it coarsely.

Mix in grated carrot, finely chopped onions, finely chopped coriander leaves and curry leaves, salt and the ground paste.

Heat a pan with enough oil to deep fry.

Drop in balls, or flatten as a discs. Cook on all sides, drain on a kitchen towel.

Uddi Bonda | Urad Dal Fritters

Urad Dal / Uddi pappu - 1 cup
Green Chillies - 3 medium
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

How to make Uddi Bonda

Soak the Urad dal for 2 hrs, drain on a colander.

In a mixer, take the green chilies, urad dal and grind to a smooth mix. Add salt.

Heat a pan with oil, scoop in balls and gently drop into hot oil. Cook on all sides by turning it around.

Drain on Kitchen towels.

Notes: Finely chopped onions, coriander leaves and curry leaves can also be added.

Vada Curry - Version 2 | Vadai Curry | Lunch Box Series : LBS#63

Having already posted a Vada curry, you must be wondering why I am posting Vada Curry again. Well it so happened that just after I posted my version, Amma made another version for lunch. She paired it with Tomato Puloa which was a new combo for us. It was a total hit. I was really so happy having found another combo for making with Tomato Pulao. I always only make Cauliflower Gravy with this rice, which always is a problem when cauliflower is not in season. Now with gravy, I don't have to worry again.

Best part was my kids loved this gravy. My version tends to be little tedious to parse out the spices and other stuff for the kids, while this version is easy to manage. Kids are having a gala time with my brother's kids being at home. It's non stop kondatam if you know what I mean. My lil nephew who is going to be 2 in a month's time, is so adorable. The way he comes and hugs you when he has to say sorry, makes you want to make him do it again and again. With tiny toes, he comes running and raises he hand to beat you, then when his mom says, it's wrong to do, he immediately comes to hug you and says ssorry. With a 100 watt smile that never but charm you completely.

Coming back to the recipe, I will surely recommend you trying both these together.

Vada Curry ~  Amma's style

Ingredients Needed:

Masala Vada
Make Masala Vada and keep it aside.

For the Ground Masala

Fennal Seeds / Sauf - 1/2 tsp
Whole Coriander - 1 tsp
Poppy Seeds / Gasa gasa - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds / Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Clove, cinnamon - 2 each
Green chiili - 5 medium
Cashew nuts- 5 whole
Fried gram - 1 tsp

Fry all the above in oil, then add half of a whole coconut medium size. Fry for 2 mins.

Tomatoes - 2 medium, fry tomato separately and then add to the above. Once it is cool, grind to a smooth paste.

Other ingredients

Shallot / Small Onions - 1/2 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 /4 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp

Method to prepare:

Make Masala Vadas and keep it aside.

For the gravy, heat a kadai with oil, fry small onions, ginger garlic paste. Cook till the onions turn colour.

Then add the ground masala with salt. Bring to boil. Simmer for 5 mins.

When the gravy consistency gets thicken, add the deep fried masala vadas to the gravy and simmer for 5 mins.

Serve with Tomato Pulao or Parotta.

Notes: Normally the vadas are broken and added to the gravy, but we added it as such. It gave a nice crunch to the gravy.

This is mostly made to use up leftover vadas. But that has never been the case at our home.

Now that I have two recipes for Vada Curry, I am sure there are many other variations. Do share if your method is different. But if you have not made this delicious gravy yet, then I suggest you get down making it right away!

How to make Vada Curry ~ Tamil Nadu Special | Step by Step Recipe | Lunch Box Series : LBS#62

When you come down south, one of the famous gravies to accompany Idli or parotas for breakfast would be Vada Curry. As far as I know, there are two ways this curry is served. One where it is almost mashed to blend well with the gravy, the other which still retains its shape.

And I have two recipes for this Vada Curry to share. One that I make myself and the other recipe that Amma makes. Both turns out great, so you have a choice to choose from. Both the dishes were made for the office lunch, you can imagine this makes a great dish to be taken for afternoon lunch.

I made this last week for our office lunch box along with Jeera Rice. It was a great combo.

This is low fat as I steamed the Vadas instead deep frying. Follow the recipe for Masala Vada as I normally make. Instead of deep frying, I patted the vada as small discs and steamed them for 10 - 15 mins. Then in a non stick pan, roasted them using 1 tsp oil.

Making the steamed Masala Vadas

Make Masala Vadas and place them on greased Idli moulds.

Steam for 10 - 15 mins

 In a non stick pan add 1 tsp oil and roast the steamed vadas.

Cook on both sides to make sure it is roasted well.

For the Gravy

Vada Curry

Ingredients Needed:

Refer the Masala Vada post for the ingredients.

For the Spicy Gravy

Coarse paste

Onions - 2 medium
Green chilies - 2 medium
Garlic, grated - 4 cloves
Ginger. grated - 2"

For the sauce

Tomato, puree - 2 medium
Bay leaf - 1 long
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon - 2"
Fennel Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch
Coriander leaves for garnich.

Method to prepare:

For the Masala Vadas,

Grind the batter and mix in onions and other spices as required.

Pat them down as small discs and steam these vadas in greased idli moulds for 15 mins.

Once done, remove and roast them on a non stick pan with 1 tsp oil. Cook on both sides. Remove once done. You can crush the vadas to small pieces if you prefer. Mostly these are crushed into smaller bits.

For the Spicy Curry

Grind onions, green chilis, ginger and garlic to coarse paste.

Heat a non stick pan, add 1 tsp oil. Once the oil is hot add bay lead, clove and cinnamon. Saute for couple of minutes.

Then add the coarse masala, fennel seeds, cumin seeds. Saute for 5 mins until the onions starts to turn colour.

Add tomato puree, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, salt and fry for 5 mins in sim.

When the tomato puree is cooked well and oil starts coming out, add required water, crushed vadas and simmer for 5 mins.

Then bring to boil, add coconut milk. Add finely chopped coriander leaves.

Again simmer for 5 mins.

Serve with Idli, Dosa or Rotis.

Notes:

Since vadas will absorb water, make sure you add as required.
If you want a richer version, you can deep fry the vadas, but we have noticed that except for a slight richer taste, the steamed version was equally good.


Will be back with another version of Vada Curry next week. Do share your recipe if you make it differently

Coconut Vada | Coconut Fritters Indian Style

It's been so hot this entire week, you can imagine how hot if 6.30 am looks 10 am. So it's been such a pleasant surprise to have the sudden showers blessing us. Since last night it's been raining and the city dwellers were in for a nice day. Most of them enjoyed the entire day by going out and I am sure it will continue so for couple of days. I dread the hot summer again.

Today being a holiday for the boys, they were out of ideas on how to spend the whole day. Athamma was worried how they will manage their summer vacation that will soon start shortly. Though they look short of ideas, you will be impressed on how they keep themselves so well occupied. Peddu made his breakfast clear saying he wants Appam, while Chinnu wanted Chocos, their latest addiction. Seeing him opt for that, Peddu cancelled his order and wanted the same as his brother.

Konda has thought them to say "Order Order" when they all sit down to eat. Which only happens for couple of dishes. Rest you can either see Athamma running around or me doing the honours of feeding them. They eat themselves only if its appams and when one is done, they will call out Order Order, they even tip me after their meal. So it's kind of fun to see how they go about. 

Coming to recipe today, since it's raining, I thought I might post this deep fried delight. An innovative dish that Athamma thought of and we ended up making it often.

It's made with Freshly grated Coconut with Besan and spices. You can shallow fry it, if you want to avoid the oil. Else it tastes great.

Ingredients Needed:

Fresh Coconut, grated - 1 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Besan / Gram Flour - 3 tbsp
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Fried Gram flour / Putnala podi - 1 tbsp
Ajwain Seeds/ Vamu - 1/4 tsp
Bread Crumbs as required
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep fry

Method to prepare:

Grate the coconut fresh. Take it in a bowl along with ginger garlic paste, red chili powder, besan, fried gram flour, corn flour and Vamu. Mix well

Sprinkle little water just enough for it to hold together. Divide into equal balls, and flat them into round vadas. Make sure they hold their shape.

Roll these vadas over bread crumbs and deep fry them in hot oil. Remove these are fried on both sides

Notes:

Add just enough water for the mix to hold the shape.
In the pan, add very little oil for the vadas to be immersed and not as you deep fry your regular fritters.
You will feel the crunchy taste of Coconut when you bite into it.

Enjoy your Vadas with a cup of coffee!

Have a great weekend ahead.

Low Calorie Sambar Vada | Medu Vada in Sambar | Indian Vegan Recipes

On Friday I finally made the Khichidi again. That was after many weeks absence and thought it was agreed it was going to be part of a regular Saturday menu. I am a person who never bored with routine. But looks like even I have skipped my Menu Planners.

This results in dire situations when I am frustrated not to know what to cook. Then I had to resort to the life saver the Khichidi. Yes I am yet to blog on that. Will get around doing it someday. Having done this on Friday, I realized I had nothing for Saturday. So it was Sambar Vada. Remembering that I am planning to take up my diet regime again seriously, wanted it to be a low calorie one.

Sunday was wonderful. The breakfast was the usual Channa Masala with Poori. Then seeing Konda not being best of her health, hubby dear said he will take us for the beach. The rounds of applause and the roaring sounds that followed would lead anyone believe that we don't take the kids anywhere, which is not the case. Still with a outing in  question they were so excited.

The day promised to be very cool. So we set out for an outing to the beach. Kids took their footballs to play on the beach. Seeing the horse flying by, they were eager for a ride. But after their return, Konda and Chinnu declared they don't like the horse ride, as the ride was very fast and they were jostled so much that their back ached. Soon it turned to be very windy, we decided to leave after spending couple of hours.

Rest of the day just passed in a blur, I went to help Amma cook for our relatives who came for dinner.

Back to the Sambar Vada that I made on Saturday, I wanted to try making it low cal as it was anyways going to be dunk in Sambar.

I ground the batter for Medu Vadas same as always in the mixer. But anytime grinding it in the grinder gives you a Medu Vada that is soft and fluffy inside and crisp on the outer. I confirmed this when I ground the batter on Sunday for our guests. 

If you are using the Mixer to grind and want to use the Appey Pan for these Low calorie Vadas, I suggest you add a pinch of cooking soda or allow it to get more water once you add the onions.

I knew the difference as I made the vadas first time without any of those Onions for the kids. They were a bit hard. But since you soak these in hot sambar for a while, they become soft and taste the same, well almost!

I can vouch that the taste was the same, except you won't get to feel that crispy outer skin that you normally associate with deep fried vadas.

I will have to get around the sambar somebody other day!

Once the vadas are fried, soak them in hot Sambar for making them get all soft.

Have a great week ahead!

Mixed Vegetable Vada!

I guess there must be very few precious things that could upset a 2 yr old baby. But when it does, it must be an abyss. Kids have such innocent approach and their take on most things, make you want to cuddle them to you, to protect them from all outside hassles. Life is so cruel, it forces a baby to learn and face such adversities at such young age. What would you think when a child that young, is forced to part with its most favorite thing. Yes I was forced to be cruel enough to keep away the feeding bottle from Peddu!

He has the habit of suckling it when he feels sleepy. The moment he takes his feeding bottle, he conks off to sleep as an angel that he is. Only saving grace has been the fact that its an empty feeding bottle. I know if its a bottle with milk or juice, it would have been even worse. Still the doctors advised me that its high time I made him break this habit. It broke my heart to see him pining for his dear bottle, but I had keep it away. I explained to him patiently that its bad for him and he shouldn't ask for it. He nodded his head as if he understood. The first time was so hard, he was crying insistently. Finally I had to give in. But next morning I again spoke to him about it. He looked so pitifully at me, with a look that asked why he was forced to sacrifice his most beloved bottle. Its been four days now, there has been great progress on his detachment to his bottle. Hopefully end of this weekend, he should be able to break free from a habit he learnt as an infant. Life is really cruel to make a baby learn to be detached with material things!

Though a mother can never love one child more than the others, a wee bit is always more towards one child, whom she feels need more protection. My darling Peddu is so innocent, I know the other two can fend for themselves. Peddu is always behind one of us, with questions asking about everything he sees. He is so inquisitive to know his surroundings. While Konda and Chinnu have wheels on their feet and can never be idle for even a micro second, Peddu is more content to be sitting with us and watching and laughing at the antics his siblings will be up to. Not that he doesn't join them in their play, when he does the house is turned up side down with three little monkeys jumping around!

Coming to the recipe for the day, I feel happy sharing a snack that my kids loved when I made it for them. I don't mind giving them deep fried snacks. Its great to see how they enjoy these snacks.

I know most of you might lift up your nose at yet another deep fried snack, but what is life if its not juxtaposed with deep fried love!

And yes this is a sure way to clean up your pantry, with titbits of vegetables that you can add into this! I literally threw in whatever came to hand, more with the thought that I should make my kids eat their vegetables.

Ingredients Needed:

Mixed vegetables, chopped - 1 cup
Paneer - 1/2 cup
Besan/ Fried gram flour - about a cup (enough to get a thick batter
Rice flour - 3 - 4 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves - 3 -4 stalks
Curry leaves - 4
Oil for deep frying.
Green chillies - 1 chopped (adjust to taste
Chili powder as per taste (opt)


Method to prepare:

Chop all vegetables, in a bowl mix in the vegetables and crumble the paneer. Add the chopped chili and chilli powder if you are using, along with salt. Mix well. If this is for adults, you can very well use more chilies.

Mix in the besan and rice flour, sprinkle water and gather everything together. You will get a thick but wet dough, just enough to pat them down as doughnuts or vada shapes.

Get the oil heated up in a kadai.

Meanwhile, wet your palm and take a ball and pat it down to get a 1 inch thick of vadas. Gently slide it into hot oil, simmer the flame for a while for the inner side to get cooked well.

Drain it to a kitchen towel.

Goes great with sauce!

Note: The vegetables that went in were Cauliflower, Beans, Carrot, Potatoes, Peas. You can just about anything.

My kids sure enjoyed this, try and let me know if yours does!