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Friday, March 4, 2011

Kothimbir Vadi


The Blogging Marathon 3 has started today. Srivalli has it running this time with two groups and I happen to be in group 2 with these wonderful bloggers. Divya Vikram, Harini-Jaya, Ila, Jay, Kamalika, Padma Rekha, Pavani, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Vatsala, Veena KrishnaKumar

This marathon is going to be for a week, meaning the marathoners have to post for 7 days without a miss, selecting any one theme from the following list.
1. 30 Minute Meals
2. Baked Goodies
3. Entries for the ongoing events
4. Healthy Breads
5. Kid Friendly Dishes
6. Rice Dishes

7. Salads
8. Going with each one from the above themes

And I am going with "entries for the ongoing events", meaning my posts in this marathon must be eligible to participate in the ongoing food related events in the blogosphere. I chose to go with this theme just to be able to participate in the lovely events that are going around here, which I usually happen to miss because of trivial reasons. The other adult at home thinks that my cooking (or at least my blog posts) revolves around the blog events and probably he would be shaking his head disgustedly if he happens to read this. :)

I am going with these spicy, crispy, filling and very delicious kothimbir vadis from Maharasthra for the first day of Marathon. I have stuffed the 'Favorites' on the browser window with hundreds of recipes, much to the annoyance of M since I don't try to even glance back after adding them. He has been gently reminding me to get rid of those. In order to do so, I had tried a couple of recipes this week. One among those happens to be these yummy kothimbir vadis (or loosely translated cilantro vadas) from One Hot Stove. As the name suggests, kothimbir or the aromatic herb cilantro plays the key role in this recipe. Minced cilantro, besan (and other flours if using) and the flavorful spices are combined to make a thick batter, then steamed, cut into wedges and shallow fried until crisp. This is the essence of the recipe in a nutshell. Kannadigas have a chanadal recipe on the same lines except that they are not fried after steaming. I had tried that earlier and can't say we liked it that much. Nupur mentions that these vadis are good to go even with out frying. I was thinking they would be a spicier version of Dhoklas (after all it is steamed besan) if we skip the frying part but I was wrong. They stand way apart from dhoklas. Kothimbir vadis are kothimbir vadis and dhoklas are dhoklas. Both are delicious in their own ways. Period.

Ingredients: (4 Servings as a tea time snack)
Besan / Chickpea flour - 1 cup
2 Tbsp each - rice flour, ragi flour, wheat flour
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
Garam masala (I used 1/8 tsp)
1 bunch of cilantro (about 1 cup minced cilantro)
1 tsp grated ginger
3 finely minced green chillies (I used Serrano Peppers.)
2 tsp lime juice
1/4 cup oil for frying



Method:
* Sieve the besan. (I usually prefer sieving the besan before using it in any dish to avoid the lumps.) Then mix all the ingredients in a bowl, except the oil.
* Add enough water to make a thick batter (I used approximately about 1/2 cup but use your discretion. It should be thicker than idli batter) and stir well to remove any lumps if present.
* Grease a vessel or a plate with at least one inch depth and pour the batter into it. (Remember not to fill the batter up to the brim if using 2 plates one above other like I did. Leave some space for the rising stuff). Steam until a skewer inserted in the middle comes clean, about 20 minutes. I had used my plate idli stand for the purpose and put it in my pressure cooker with out the weight on.

* Let the steamed vadis cool. Then run a sharp spoon around the edges and flip over to unmold them. Cut into slices.
* Heat about 1/4 inch oil in a skillet / pan and fry the slices till crispy and golden.



They can be served as lunch too since they are filling. They were spicy enough to eat alone or serve with some ketchup / green chutney.

This goes to 
1. Flavors of Maharasthra hosted by PJ, originally started by Naina.
2. Food Palette - Brown hosted at Torview
3.  MLLA -33, hosted at Ammalu's Kitchen and an event started originally by Susan.

32 comments:

Susan said...

That looks amazing. I would love a huge wedge of that savory delight right now.

Good luck with the marathon!

Priya Suresh said...

Woww thats super spongy wedge tempts me a lot...yumm!

Unknown said...

looks like savory cake...sounds very yummy!
Smitha
Smitha's Spicy Flavors

harini-jaya said...

It has been in my bookmarks(forgotten folders) for a long time now. I have tasted store bought kothambir wadi about 6-7 years back and still remember the aroma!!Amazing isn't it? Would love to know if your picky eater relished these :)

Unknown said...

looks perfectly delicious!! Liking this :)

Pavani said...

Wow. They look delicious. I've never tried making them myself but have heard a lot about them. Now this goes on my favorite list :-)

Unknown said...

wonderful effort and lovely vadi.new to me.bookmarking it.

Akila said...

First by seeing the picture, i thought it is a fruit cake... but its really new to me... bookmarekd...

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

love it....yummy vadi with lovely presentation....mouthwatering...

Usha said...

Suma, even I am looking into One Hot Stove to prepare something for the flavors of maharastra event.. :) Narrowed down to couple of entries..

Kothimbir vadi is very inviting.

Umm Mymoonah said...

Looks like a slice of cake, very new recipe to me. So yummy.

Nupur said...

Suma, thanks so much for trying the recipe, and your pictures look just wonderful. This is one homely and tasty dish. I love crushing the fried vadis and eating them with dal, rice and ghee.

Gayathri Kumar said...

At first I thought it was a cake. Looks so delicious. Nice snaps..

Srivalli said...

Suma, that looks so good..never tried this, will surely want to make it myself..

Vatsala. said...

Looking very spongy, it is attracting
me.
Show and Tell

Unknown said...

That is a new recipe. Havent had this earlier. Looks delicious. Glad to run the marathon with you!

Sravs said...

So yummy ...never had this !!! will try sometime !!

Unknown said...

Very new recipe and sounds spicy and lovely.

veena said...

This is a very new recipe to me. Love the very look of it. Glad to run the maraton with u:-)

Lifewithspices said...

i hv seen this recipe in some book urs looks the best than the book one..

Indian Recipe Book said...

Look at that glorious golden! Wow! Looks awesome as well as so doable. Bookmarked. :-)
Love the new look and the gorgeous snaps. :-)

Ila said...

very new to me :) Looks delicious like spongy cake :)

Priya Sreeram said...

vadis look great ! yum

Cooking Foodie said...

These look yummy!

Suma Gandlur said...

Harini,
My daughter was not well when I prepared those and she did not taste them.

Nupur,
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe.

Priya Srinivasan - I Camp in My Kitchen said...

Very Tempting!!!! Looks like a Spiced Cake!!!!

Savi-Ruchi said...

This is extremely tempting! Even I agree to your point that, my bookmarks have grown like a tree. But, I have hardly tried any! Great idea. Why did I not get to know about this marathon, sigh!

Unknown said...

amazing can i have one piece please.

TheGourmetCoffeeGuy said...

Your recipe sounds delicious and your photos are very "appetizing." Nice post. Thank you for sharing.

Kalyani said...

wow ! this sure looks tempting ! I was looking for this for a long time ! lovely blog too :)

Torviewtoronto said...

thank you for linking this looks delicious

Jackie said...

Nice Recipe!Thats very Healthy.