Vadacurry/Vadakari/Vada Curry - Saidapete Special

Today is letter V under our mega marathon themed Journey through Tamil cuisines and its a popular accompaniment,vadacurry.
Vadcurry is an accompaniment served  for idly,dosa and idiyappam.Mini masala vadas are dunked in a creamy rich onion,tomato based gravy.
As this curry was introduced in a hotel at Saidapete in Chennai and gets popular.Since then its called as Saidepete vadacurry/vadakari.
Low fat steaming version of vadas can be made and add in the gray.But in hotels deep fried vadas are crumbled and used.So I followed the recipe and deep fried the vadas,used it.Off to the recipe........

                                                                      

                                                            
                                                                              Vadacurry/Vadakari/Vada Curry

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   Basic Information

   Preparation time ~ 15 minutes
   Cooking time ~ 35-40 minutes

   Serves ~ 3-4

   

  Ingredients

 For the vadas

Ingredient	Quantity
Channa dhal/kadala paruppu	1/2 cup
Ginger/inji	1/2 inch piece
Garlic/poondu	2 cloves
Red chilly /varamilagai	2
Fennel seeds/sombu	1 tsp
Salt	1/2 tsp
Oil	to fry

 For the gravy

    

Ingredient	Quantity
Onion/ vengayam(finely chopped)	1 (medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	1 tbs
Tomato(pureed)	2 (medium size)
Red chilly powder/milagai podi	1 tsp
Coriander powder/dhaniya podi	2 tsp
Turmeric powder/manjal podi	1/4 tsp
Green chilly/pachamilagi	3 (slit lengthy)
Thick coconut milk	1/2 cup
Curry leaves/karivepillai	few leaves
Coriander leaves	1 tbs(finely chopped)
Salt	1.25 tsp
Oil	1 tbs

   For the tempering

  

Ingredient	Quantity
Fennel seeds/sombhu	1/4 tsp
Cloves/lavangam	3-4
Cinnamon/pattai	1 inch
Bay leaf	1

  Method

•  Soak the channa dhal in water for couple of hours,after soaking drain the water completely.Take the soaked channa dhal,fennel seeds,ginger,garlic,red chilly and salt.Grind it to a coarse paste without adding water.Transfer it to a bowl.Heat oil in a pan and once it becomes hot take a handful of batter. Pinch out a small gooseberry size batter and drop it in the oil.Fry it till it becomes nice and golden.

• Remove it from the oil and drain it on a paper towel.Crumble half of the vadas and keep it aside.Heat 1 tbs of oil in a pan to make the gravy and do the tempering with the given ingredients.Add the onion,green chilly and curry leaves along with a pinch of salt.

• Saute it till transparent,add in the ginger&garlic paste and fry it util the raw smell disappears..Add in the pureed tomato and cook it until mushy.Add in all the spice powders and salt,give it a mix.

• Let it cook for a minute.Add around 1.5 cups of water and cook it for 5 minutes,let it simmer for another 2 minutes.At this stage add the coconut milk.

• Let it boil for 2 minutes or raw smell goes off.Now add the crumbled vadas and vadas to the gravy.Let it cook for 2-3 minutes in a medium flame.Add in the chopped coriander leaves and put off the flame.

• Serve it with idly or dosa.

• After adding the vadas to the gravy,it tends to absorb more gravy so adjust the consistency of the gravy while cooking.
• For steaming the vadas,take the prepared batter in a idly plate and steam for 5-7 minutes.
• Instead of coconut milk,coconut paste can also be used.

Enjoy..............

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