Vengaya Vadhagam

Vengaya Vadagam has a long story behind it at my home. When we were in our school days, every summer cousins and aunts would assemble at my uncle s house and gear up for the Vathal season of the year. We would under my Grandmom s leadership make all kinds of Vathals and Vadagams. The best of them was Vengaya Vadagam as it had a long process to make and tasted out of the world. I still remember paati sitting in the middle of the hall and instructing everybody to make this, to get that.. When I made this vadagam this year, I was remembering her every minute. There are many things which I got to learn from my grandmom, like how to play Pazhanguli, how to tie flowers, how to make athirasam, how to make vadagam, etc. I will proudly say that Im her only granddaughter who knows all this, and learnt it from her.I miss her so much . Wish she is still there with me life will surely be different than what it is. I miss you Paati

Going on to today's Vadagam.

The ingredients are

Big Onions - 1 kg 

Urad Dal - 1/4 kg

Garlic - 1 cup

Red Chili powder - 4 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 2 tbsp

Curry leaves - 2 cups finely chopped

Fenugreek Powder - 1 tbsp

Salt as per taste

Method :

Peel the onions and cut them into small pieces

Soak the urad dal and pulse it into a coarse paste

Pulse the garlic pods into small pieces

Take the onions, garlic and urad dal in a bowl add red chili powder, fenugreek powder, turmeric powder and salt

Add the mustard seeds and chopped curry leaves

Mix well to form a nice moist paste. It should be in the consistency of pakoda

I use an aluminum tray lined with plastic sheets to lay small quantities of the mixture to be dried under the sun

A completely filled tray

A close up view of the vadagam

This is how the vadagam will look after sun drying for two days

A bowl full of sun dried Vengaya Vadagam

Vengaya Vadagam after being deep fried

Check what my fellow bloggers are cooking for the Day 3 of the marathon

Bittergourd Vathal / Pavakkai Vathal

Day 2 of 17th Blogging Marathon, I present to you quite an unusual vathal" Pavakkai Vathal". It is very very easy to make. You do not need any special preparation to make this. The moment you think about, this can be made in less than an hour s time.

Ingredients: 

Bittergourd - 1 kg

Turmeric - 1 tsp

Salt - as required

Method:

Clean and wash the Bitter gourd

Slice them into thin pieces

Add turmeric powder and salt to boiling water 

Add the sliced bitter gourd to this and let it boil for 5 mins

Ensure that the bitter gourd is not fully done

Let it stand for some 10 mins 

Drain the water

Spread this on a plastic sheet or an aluminium sheet and dry it in the sun

Dry it till it is very hard to touch

To use this vathal, heat some oil in a wok 

When the oil is hot, deep fry a handful of them and serve with hot sambhar rice.

Check what my fellow bloggers are whipping up for Day 2 

Gooseberry Pickle

Yay, we are here in our 17th Blogging Marathon. This marathon is special for two reasons, one , this is the first marathon in the changed format and second it has the theme which I have been waiting for a long time. Thanks Valli for including it. 

My theme for first week is Sun dried Items. I have chosen a pickle and two vathals to be featured here. So on to my post for the day. I have chosen Nellikai Urgai (Goose Berry Pickle).This is very simple to make and can be stored up to a weeks time. 

Ingredients:

Goose Berry - 10 

Red chili powder - 4 tbsp

Salt - as required

Oil - 3 tbsp 

Mustard seeds for tempering

Asafoetida - a pinch

Method:

Microwave the goose berries for about 5 mins till they become soft 

When they are done, you will be able to remove them as separate pellets.It will look like the ones in the picture below

Add Red chili powder, salt, Asafoetida and mix well. Heat oil in a wok and add the mustard seeds . Add this mixture to the goose berries and mix well

Tie a white cloth in the mouth of the container and keep it in sun for at least two days, before consumption

Your pickle will be ready after two days and you will have a nice aroma coming out from the pickle.

Enjoy the pickle with creamy curd rice or even with steamy idlis.

Check what my fellow bloggers are cooking for this 17 Blogging Marathon