Pachchi Vadiyalu- Ash Gourd Vadis

Ash Gourd Vadis/ Budida Gummadikaya Pachchi Vadiyalu

Budida Gummadikaya vadiyalu or Ash Gourd Vadis are an Andhra delicacy. Vadiyalu are one of the many methods of preservation used by Indians. The essential element for the process is heat and bright sunlight. Since this criterion is met in most parts of the Indian subcontinent for at least 8 out of 12 months this is a fairly common recipe. 

Vadiyalu are generally used as an accompaniment to the main dishes in a meal or as evening snack item- depending on the variety. Sabudana vadiyalu are an example of the latter while Ash gourd vadiyalu are a classic example of the first category. 

This recipe is for Pachchi vadiyalu. Pachchi literally means "Raw". Being situated on the NE coast we have enough sunlight but not heat to make proper vadiyalu. So last time my MIL suggested we skip the drying part of the process and fry Pachchi Vadiyalu. That was the first time I had heard about this possibility. So we prepare the batter and omit the last step of drying in hot sunlight for 2-3 days. Instead fry the batter the same day and enjoy with hot ghee rice!!

Ingredients:

Ash gourd/ Budida gummadikaya - grated or finely dices, 4 cups

Urad dal - 1 cup
Green chillies - 2 (may be modified to taste)
Jeera - 1 tsp
Salt - 4 tsp (may be modified to taste)
Oil - for deep frying
Method:

1) Apply 2 to 3 tsps of salt to the diced ash gourd. The best way is to use both hands and thoroughly rub the salt into the pieces. The purpose of salting the gourd is to remove as much of the moisture content from the vegetable as possible.
2) Transfer the salted gourd into a cheese cloth. Tie into a knapsack and hang from a hook/ nail. Place a vessel under it to catch the drained water. In case you do not have the facility to hang the bundle - put the firmly tied bundle in a standing colander. Place this on top of a vessel to catch the drained liquid from the gourd. Place a heavy weight (like a molcajete set) on top of the bundle to make sure all the liquid is forced out.
3) The above step takes 8-12 hours to complete (simplest would be to do this overnight). At the end of this duration, squeeze the bundle well to extract the last possible liquid/moisture content from the gourd.



4) Soak the urad dal for 3-4 hrs.
5) Wash and grind the Urad dal in a mixer-grinder. Use as little water as possible. The paste should not be coarse. It should turn out soft and fluffy, like medu vada/garela batter.



6) Grind the green chillies and jeera to a coarse paste (one turn of the mixie is fine)


7) Mix the ash gourd, urad batter and chilli-jeera paste in a bowl. Add salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
8) Heat peanut oil in a kadai. When the oil is sufficiently hot, drop the batter in and fry till golden brown. If not familiar with making fritters with hand, you may use a table spoon measure to scoop the batter and gently drop it in the oil.


9) Drain on paper towels. Serve with hot rice and ghee or as an accompaniment to pulusu.

Notes - Below notes are based on the observations/ mistakes I made the first time around. These are added here so the reader can avoid the same:
1) Do not mix all the Urad batter into the gourd at one go. First add 1/2 cup batter and mix. The batter is a binding agent- use just enough to coat and hold the grated/diced gourd together. If needed u can add more batter sparingly so as not to overwhelm the gourd's taste.
2) Grated gourd will release the moisture more efficiently than diced pieces
3) Add salt to the Gourd-Urad batter just before frying otherwise batter will turn runny/ liquidy and will not have right texture

Easy Pumpkin Sabzi/ Gummadikaya Teepi Kura

Back from a long hiatus! But my passion for good food is intact. The only thing different now is in addition to being a lazy foodie is the aversion to some very common ingredients, viz. onions and garlic. So I thought I might start blogging about the recent experiments in my kitchen with a conspicuous lack of the above said bulbs.

Today's post is a simple recipe utilizing Pumpkin which is available year round in the USofA. It is called Gummadikaya in Telugu and Kaddoo in Hindi. This particular kura (literal meaning vegetable dish) goes well with plain rice or chapathis.

Gummadikaya Teepi Kura/ Easy Pumpkin Sabzi

Ingredients:

3 cups of Pumpkin- peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

1 sprig Curry leaves (Kari patta)

3 tbsps Jaggery (Gur), grated. 

Seasonings:

2 tsps oil

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds (rai)

1 tsp split Black gram dal (dhuli urad)

2 small dry Red chillies, broken into halves

Pinch of Asafoetida (Hing) - optional.

Salt to taste

Method:

Steam the cubed the pumpkin pieces either in a pressure cooker or using a steamer basket. If you do not have access to either, then put the pieces in a microwave safe bowl and nuke it for about 3 mins. Check it halfway through and stir once and finish microwaving. The aim is to get 'al dente' pumpkin without turning it mushy or watery.

Put a thick bottomed pan or kadai on medium heat. Add the oil and wait till it is hot. Put in the Mustard seeds and wait till majority have spluttered, then add the Black gram dal and saute till the white dal turns to a light brown color. Now add the broken dry Red chilly pieces, Asafoetida and Curry leaves. **Caution - move slightly away from the pan while adding the Curry leaves since they splutter horribly due to high water content.**

Immediately put the pumpkin cubes into the pan. Give a gentle stir. Sprinkle salt as per taste, give another stir, cover and let cook for about 3-5 minutes. Uncover pan and sprinkle the jaggery. Sugar or brown sugar may be substituted for the jaggery but taste will be compromised. 

Stir gently and cover. From this point on, you may cook the pumpkin to a desired state of doneness. I like it where the pieces still hold shape but have partly turned mushy (as shown in the picture above). But if al dente is preferred then turn off the heat as soon as the jaggery has dissolved.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with hot rice.

Vegetable Stew

Wednesday was wet and clammy. By evening I was in serious need of comfort food. My comfort food is 'Mirchi bajji', unfortunately no 'mirchis' in the fridge. And somewhere in the back of my mind was a small pin prick nagging me restlessly. It happened to be my 'Health Conscience' (not to be confused with my 'Conscience Conscience' !). It kept reminding me that I had indulged enough during the holidays and that the absence of the chillies in my fridge was a Sign. So I heeded to my HC and looked around and saw another alternative for my comfort food fixation- Vegetable stew with Dumplings. I realized I always wanted to try it so now was a good time. I "Googled" recipes and groan groan! I did not have any canned beans or potatoes. Very disappointing, hmph!!

Then I decided to take things into my own hands. I thought it over and had a brilliant idea. I would substitute lentils for beans and radishes for potatoes. And give it a new name - Mediterranean Lentil Stew with Italian dumplings. The parmesan cheese in the dumplings made them Italian :-D Well let me get to it then.

FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN LENTIL STEW

Serves 4

1 medium red onion, chopped finely

3 cloves of garlic, minced

8-10 red radishes

8-10 baby carrots

1 medium green bell pepper

1/3 to 1/2 cup lentils (masoor dal)

1 stick celery (or 1/4 tsp celery seeds)

2 medium tomatoes

1 tsp dried italian seasonings(marjoram, rosemary etc.)

2 tbsp AP flour (mixed thoroughly with 1/3 cup water)

Salt and Pepper to taste.

2tbsp Oil or butter

METHOD

Cut all veggies into bite size pieces. Heat a saucepan and put the oil/butter in it. Add the onions and lower the heat to medium-low. Let the onions sweat a bit, then add the garlic. Once the garlic starts giving out a fragrant aroma, add all the root vegetables(you may put whatever else you have in hand). Let them saute for 4-5 mins. Then add the dry seasonings and lentils, and give it a stir. Let that saute for another 4-5 mins. In the meantime, bring to boil about 2 cups of water in a seperate saucepan. Now add the bell pepper,and pepper to the stew. Stir and saute for 2 mins and add the hot water to it. Cover and simmer for about 1 hr (on medium heat) while stirring ocassionally. Once the lentils have softened then add the tomatoes and salt to taste. Cover and cook again till everything (esp. the lentils) start getting a little mushy. Now add the flour water mixture, stir and cook till the raw flour smell is gone (about 7 mins.). Taste and adjust seasonings according to your pallete. For added taste and color I put some saffron strands in there (but what with saffron being so costly, I put just a li'l. So little that I might as well have omitted it entirely- i couldn't taste it there:-D)

FOR THE DUMPLINGS

serves 6-8 (depending on how many you eat!)

1 cup bisquick pancake mix

1/4 cup chopped, steamed spinach (optional)

1/8 cup parmesan cheese

1/4 cup milk

METHOD

Mix all the ingredients together. You'll get a sticky dough. For traditional dumplings, this batter would be dropped by teaspoonfuls into the stew during the last 10-15 mins and cook in there. I think that it mostly is an acquired taste. I did that and I felt like I was eating mush. I almost gagged.

Fortunately, I did not trust the dumpling to begin with so I made my own version. I feel that for the Indian palette at least, this will taste way better. I heated a frying pan with about 1 tbsp of oil and dropped teaspoonfuls of the above batter in it. Lower the heat to medium low, cover and cook for 3-4 mins. Then flip the pan fry dumplings and let cook for another 3 mins or till you feel its done. The dumplings made this way were a sure hit with both VC and Princess ( and me too :-P)

On the whole I did get my comfort food (after I scraped away the tradumpling from my stew) and all of us were happy in the tummy.