BM # 39
Day : 26
State : Tamil Nadu
Day : 26
State : Tamil Nadu
Rice is the major staple food of most of the Tamil people. Lunch or Dinner is usually a meal of steamed rice, served with sambar, dry curry, rasam, kootu and thayir (curd, but as used in India refers to yogurt) .
Breakfast usually includes idli, pongal, dosai, aval or poha, puttu, idiyappam, appam with sweetened coconut milk, chapathi, sevai, vadai along with coconut chutney, sambar and milagai podi. Tiffin is usually accompanied by hot filter coffee which is the signature beverage of the city.
Over a period of time, each geographical area where Tamils have lived has developed its own distinct variant of the common dishes in addition to dishes native to itself. The four divisions of ancient Tamilakam are the primary means of dividing Tamil cuisine.
The Chettinad region which serves dishes like idiyappam, uthappam, paal paniyaram and non-vegetarian dishes made primarily using chicken.
Madurai, Tirunelveli and the other southern districts of Tamil Nadu are known for non-vegetarian food made of mutton, chicken and fish. Parota made with all-purpose flour.
Nanjilnadu (Kanyakumari district) region is famous for its fish curry since the region is surrounded by the three great water bodies of Asia.
The western Kongunadu region has special dishes using ragi, coconut and jaggery.
For a North Indian like me, South Indian Cuisine referred to Idli, Dosa, Vada, it is much later in life I realized that this cuisine has much more to it.Though most restaurants use the south Indian cuisine or the name “madras” in the name, there is a marked difference between the cuisines, preparations and ingredients in different regions. An udipi restaurant, andhra restaurant, a kerala or a chettinad restaurant have different preparations and speciality.
For today I have cooked Vada Curry which was suggested by my daughter, she gave me the recipe and I confirmed from Valli, after getting a green signal I made this dish.Valli told me that originally when they had left over vadas in the restaurants they started using them in gravy and that is how this dish originated..but wait..I made fresh vadas to dunk them in curry and my hubby loved the dish.This curry is normally served with dosas,
Vada
1 cup channa daal, soaked for 3 – 4 hours
Coarsely pound
1 small piece cinnamon stick
1 clove
2 whole red chilly
Small piece ginger
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
Grind the channa daal coarsely with minimum water .
Add the pounded ingredients,onion, coriander leaves and salt.
Mix well and make small rounds, flatten them and deep fry to a golden.
Keep aside.
Gravy
Whole spices
2 bay leaves
1 clove
Small piece cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 whole red chilly
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 onion, chopped finely
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chilly powder
Salt to taste
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup coconut milk
Heat oil, add whole spices.
Add onion, ginger and garlic, sauté
Add the dry spices and sauté.
Add tomatoes, cook till the moisture evaporates.
Add coconut milk and water till you get a desired consistency.
Break the prepared vada sand add to the gravy, let boil for a minute.
Serve hot with dosas or idlis.
Curry leaves Chutney
1/2 cup curry leaves
1/4 cup coconut, grated
1 tsp tamarind
1/2 tbsp urad daal
2 tsp Bengal gram
1 green chilly
Salt to taste
Roast the urad daal.
Roast the curry leaves,
Cool.
Blend the following to a fine paste adding very little water.
Coconut
Tamarind
Roasted daal
Roasted curry leaves
Bengal gram
Green chilly
Salt
Tempering
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch asafoetida
After the chutney is blended temper it with mustard seeds.
Such a lovely spread Vaishali..your dosas have come out so well!..needless to say I love vada curry..
That is one spicy gravy! I love the dal vadas. Over the last couple months I have seen the curry leaves chutney on several blogs. Must try it. Very nicely made platter.
Vada curry looks very pleasing and a great alternative to vegetables
Vaishali, beautiful comibnation and while reading the recipes , i suddenly felt the urge to eat, this means it works đ
Crispy dosa and vada curry both makes me hungry, that dosa looks just simply out of the world.
Lovely Vada curry it resembles to rasa vada looks perfect,yummy and delicious.
perfectly shaped and crispy dosa!! love the spirals in the dosa – wow you have made it soooo good!!!
Love the look of the dosa. The spread is very traditional.
That is such a mouthwatering curry.. The whole spread looks awesome.
Wonderful breakfast thali or may be can serve it even for lunch.. That is a nice spread of food. I love everything on your menu. We also make vada curry in the Andhra Pradesh with left over vadas but it is a tamarind based curry. I like your version of the vada curry too. Looks delicious.
Looks perfect Vaishali. Coming from this region, I must admit that I have never made vada curry at home! The vadas disappear as soon as they are fried!
Perfectly made golden,crispy dosas and vada curry sounds so delicious and yummy…
Drooling here. This is an awesome combo. Love it
i can smell the aroma of vada curry right now!!! wonderful breakfast thali!!
excellent choice for TamilNadu. lovely south-indian breakfast. we make this quite often at home. Looks perfect. Vada curry is a wonderfull way for hotels to use up their leftover masala vadais. But at homes we don't usually make vadais to make vada curry.. we make vada curry straight up.. but both methods yield tasty results..
this looks so good and a filling meal
very delicious vada curry and karevepullai chutney đ such an tempting combination, no one can resist having this yummy platter !!