Soft Idlis and Vada Kari

There are few other pleasures than wolfing down fluffly idlis along with vada kari and a piping hot cup of coffee at 9 in the morning! Ah! The after-taste in the mouth lingers on and on and on.

The meek and docile idli teams up with a number of accompaniments/side dishes to serve up a great tiffin. Though it doesnt have any distinguishing taste by itself, the humble idli lends itself to the great many side dishes of India. One of them is vada kari which is a famous recipe in the Thiruvannamalai and Chennai areas of Tamilnadu, India.


Vada kari

Ingredients:

chana dal 1 cup
coconut milk 1 cup
onions 2
tomatoes 2
chilli powder 1 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
oil as required

To grind to a tight paste:
ginger 1 small piece
garlic 8 flakes
saunf 1 tsp
chillies 3
cinnamon and cardamom and cloves : 1 each

Method:
Soak the chana dal for 1 hr and then grind to a coarse paste. Slice the onions and tomatoes. Take one tsp of the ground masala paste and mix with the chana dal paste and add salt.Fry this in oil as a vada shape and keep aside. Next heat some oil and add the rest of the ground masala and once it is well fried add the tomatoes and ground paste and chilli powder and turmeric and coriander and saute well. Add coconut milk along wiht this and bring to a boil once. Now, divide the vada balls into a haphazard manner and add some water and once it boils remove from the fire.