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.

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