Uzhunnu Vada & Thenga chammanthi/ Medhu vada & Coconut Chutney

What is your Favorite Food? This is a question that we ask and are being asked every now and then , or at least when the topic in the hot seat is FOOD...Though i have many favorites among food, i always  answer " Uzhunnu Vada". I dont know whether it's because of the wonderful aroma of deep fried Lentils onion, curry leaves donuts- especially when you happen to pass by a Thattukada, or the heavenly taste of "vada" with "thenga chammanthi", or the memories of my childhood days  enlaced with the very " Uzhunnu vada". Have i told you before my nick name was Uzhunnu vada while growing up? Yeah it was :)..The story goes like this.....

We used to live in a tiny town of Kottayam, where every body knows every body and there are no secrets as such , if at all there was something, it used to be a well known secret.Sounds too Utopian??? Trust me , it was like this...My dad was working for the government in a different town , and he used to go in a bus from the junction. So this junction is like a hub for all the people there, which decorates itself with some shops for  grocery , bakery ,a medical store , a bus stop etc etc and at the center Ayyapan's Thattukada (Thattukada is the street side stall where Ayappan sells Thattu Dosa, parippu vada, uzhunnu vada, porotta and beef curry, appam ....omelete ) ..

When my dad comes home in the evening , he gets me a "Pothi"( a small packet covered with oil paper and newspaper) of "Uzhunnu vada and coconut chutney"from this "Thattukada". This was his daily ritual for many years, or till he was transferred to a far away place."A ritual he carefully does to see his little star's face glowing with a honeyed smile..."Yeah i was kin of like Pavlov's salivating dog...!!!!!but The honeyed smile only at the sight of the pothi, and not my father arriving ..how silly of me...I was not that classically conditioned huh??

By the time my dad reaches home, the "Pothi" would have drunk well with oily Vadas and the inside would be a beautiful mix of  "Choodu vadayum Chammanthiyum"(hot vada with spicy chammanthi), and i will be waiting just for this and a sweet kiss form my dad, before i go to bed. This love affair of mine and my dad's daily ritual earned me a name " uzhunnu vada" in that part of my place. I used to hate( i m not sure whether to call it hate) Ayyappan and his wife Meenkari omanachechy ( the fish vendor) for publicising my name, yet i was never ready to get rid of that affair of mine.i grow over it with time and  Later i used to blush at this name :). When my dad told me recently that somebody asked about me by the name "uzhunnu vada" it brought back a lot of good old emotions.i tried to recreate it by making some vada on a weekend , telling Navi ,the stories all along making it. 

The golden vada and  curry leaf flavored coconut chutney tasted similar to Ayappan's but the feeling never the same...

Recipe for Uzhunnu vada and Thenga chammanthi

Ingredients:-

Urad Dal - 1 cup

Shallots chopped - 5-6 nos

Green chili chopped - 2-3

Ginger finely chopped - a small piece

Curry leaves crushed or chopped

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp ( Optional) I dont really recommend using this, but it makes your vada soft.

Method:-

Clean and soak Urad dal for 3-4 hours and drain it

Grind it to a smooth paste without adding water. I used Food processor which gave me the best consistency. if you are using blender you will have to add a little water(if you think its a bit loose add some urad dal powder or rice powder to make it tight, but too much of it can make the vada hard too )

Transfer to a bowl and add chopped shallots, ginger, green chiles and curry leaves(& baking soda if using)
Mix it well and keep refrigerate it for 10-20 minutes. You can keep it in the room temperature, but refrigerating makes it easy to roll the vada.

Heat oil in a Wok. Keep a medium flame and never change it. This helps to give us perfectly cooked Vada. crispy on outside and tasty on inside.

Keep a bowl of cold water near by. Wet your hands and Take a small portion of the dough, and keep it in the palm. Shape it to a ring with a small hole in the center. Slip the vada into the hot oil , repeat the process and fry till golden.Drain on paper towels.Serve with Chutney

Recipe for Coconut Chutney/ Thenga Chammanthi

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Shallots chopped - 3

Dried red chili - 4-5

Curry leaves - lots( 7-8)

Salt to taste

Soak Dried red chili and curry leaves in 1/2 cup water for 10 minutes.

Put all the ingredients in a coffee grinder or in the small jar of mixi ,add little water and grind to a corse paste.

Note:-
--Adding aripodi - rice powder can make the vada less soft, so always try to grind urad dal withvery less water
--Street vendors add baking soda to the batter, to make it more soft. Its better you do not use it.
--Always keep the flame consistently in medium, so that you will get the perfect vada
--To check whether the oil is  hot, drop a tiny portion of batter and if it sizzles with oil bubbling from and around it , the oil is perfectly hot.
-- In both recipes reduce the number of  chiles , if you dont want it to be spicy. but trust me the heat of the chile in the coconut chutney , when combined with vada is awesome.You can always substitute green for red chiles in the chutney.
--I dont usually use the remaining oil , since its not healthy to reheat oil. What i do is , i immediately fry  a big batch of  pappadoms, dry bitter guards, Ivy gourds  and curd chiles and keep it in air tight containers. Never ever drain it in your kitchen sink or it will clog, keep it in a container and throw it your trash.

Cheers

Sarah