Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Vadacurry with Polenta Idli

Vada Curry


   Vada curry is a traditional South Indian dish which is normally served with idli's , dosas or appams.  Vada curry is usually an vegetarian dish made with lentil fritters which is crumbled and made into an thick spicy gravy. The  recipe which I have given here is with ground meat and lentils, you can also use the same recipe without any meat.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes+ soaking time for lentils
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
For vadai:
Ground meat- 200 g
Chana dhal- 100 g
Dried red chilly- 2
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 5 leaves
Coriander leaves- 1 stalk
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
For the gravy:
Onion- 1 big sized sliced finely
Tomato- 1 big sized chopped finely
Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp
Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Green chilly- 1
Mint Leaves- 1 stalk
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk
Coconut milk- 100 ml
Oil- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
For Seasoning:
Cinnamon Stick- 1/2 inch stick
Bay leaves- 1
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 stalk

Method:
Prepare the vadai:
Soak the chana dhal in water for 2 hours.  Grind into a coarse paste along with dried chilly, fennel, curry leaves and coriander leaves.  Add the ground chana dhal along with ground meat, salt and garam masala, mix it well.
Heat oil in a kadai enough for deep frying.  Drop a small portion of mixture in the oil and check if it's hot enough for frying. If the mixture comes to the top sizzling, then the oil is ready to fry.
 Make small patties of the mixture.  Drop 2 to 3 at a time and deep fry until they look golden brown.
Prepare the gravy:
Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, when they start spluttering, add the seasoning ingredients one by one.  Then add the onion and ginger garlic paste, saute well.  Keep the heat in medium to low, cover the pan and cook until the onion looks completely soft and light brown in colour.  Now add the tomatoes, saute well, cover the pan and cook until the tomatoes go soft.
 Add chilli powder, coriander powder and mix well.  Then add half cup of water and cover the pan, cook in medium heat for 5 minutes.
  Crumble the vadas and add it to the gravy.  Add the chopped mint and coriander leaves and mix well.  Finally add the coconut milk, green chilly and salt to taste.  Let it cook for another 10 minutes until oil separates and floats on top.  Take it off from heat, sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves on top.  Serve warm with idli'd or dosas.

Polenta Idli


   Polenta is made from yellow or white corn meal, which looks very similar to semolina.  This is the exact same version of my usual instant idli's.  You can make plenty of variations to this simple idli like adding different vegetables, adding whole grains etc... Just play with a basic semolina idli recipe.  You can find all my different types of idli's here.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Makes about 25 idli's

Ingredients:
Polenta- 1 cup
Semolina- 1/2 cup
Bulgur wheat- 1/2 cup
Bicarbonate of soda- 3/4 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Yogurt- 2 cups
Seasoning:
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Urad dhal- 1 tsp
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Green chilli- 1
Curry leaves- 1 stalk( leaves only chopped)
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk( finely chopped)
Blanched almonds- 5( chopped roughly)
Oil- 1/2 tbsp

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, when they start spluttering , add the remaining seasoning ingredients one by one except coriander leaves.  When the nuts turn slightly brown, turn f the heat, add polenta, semolina and bulgur, mix it well.  Add this mixture to the large bowl, add the bicarbonate of soda , salt and turmeric powder, mix it well.
  Then add the chopped coriander leaves and yogurt, mix it well. At this stage the mixture will be quite thick, add about 1/2 to 1 cup of water to make the batter similar to idli batter or semi thick batter consistency.  Grease the idli moulds, fill the moulds with batter and steam it for 5 to 7 minutes until they look fluffy and cooked.
Serve the idli's warm with vada curry or any sambhar or chutney of your choice.



This recipe goes to Twist the Traditional- Idli's by My Innovative Kitchen



62 comments:

Unknown said...

lipsmacking vadacurry and different idli

Pushpa said...

Vadacurry and idli delicious love the color on the idlis.

Sonia said...

This is a fantastic platter...seems to be very tempting and yummy yummy !

Unknown said...

Polenta Idli is something new....looks very good!...even the vada curry is tempting....both go very well together!...yum!

Claudia said...

I've never tried any indian recipes but this seems to be very delicius! It's something like a spicy soup, very healty and warm...ad perfect for winter times! And polenta...ahhhhh I love it!!!! ANd I think I'll love it on this way too! Great recipe!

Scribblingzzz.. said...

My huss loves vada curry... will sure try ur version
My culinary Trial room

Satya said...

both the dishes looks superb....very tempting platter
Super Yummy Recipes

Prathima Rao/ Prats Corner said...

WOW!! The gravy looks too good!!! I had met mehnaz the other day & we were discussing on how u come up with such unique combi of dishes that blend so perfectly?? Always look forwrd to ur posts..;) Btw i just wanted to know, for the poha muffins do v use the thin variety or thick variety poha?

Vikis Kitchen said...

Vada curry with polenta idly seems a perfect combo. I like the way you added meat in that vadai...yummmy!

divya said...

both the dishes looks superb....very tempting platter

Unknown said...

Slurp !! mouthwatering vadacurry..love taste with that polenta idli :)

Unknown said...

wow, wow, wow, both the dishes look superb and delicious. Great clicks.

Priya Suresh said...

Same pinch, i prepared idlies with yellow cornmeal, vadacurry makes me hungry..beautiful combo..

Shanavi said...

droolworthy curry and awesome idli's..

Menaga Sathia said...

Both idly & vadacurry looks superb!!

Suja Manoj said...

Delicious and healthy breakfast,love vada curry,great combo dear.

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious combination yummy curry

aipi said...

I like how you think out of the box..loved the polenta idlis ..vada curry looks great too :)



US Masala

Tahemeem said...

Mouthwatering and slurpy vada curry :)
and the idli looks so delicious and colorful and soft :)

Kankana said...

you making me very hungry now .. i never had that vada curry before!

Nammi said...

oooooooooooh yumm , that curry looks delicious, have saved it to give it a try, and very creative with the polenta idli :)

Prema said...

Wow love the vadacurry and idly...too gud presentation...

Hamaree Rasoi said...

What a fab looking platter !! Polenta idli is new to me. Very beautiful clicks

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Finla said...

I am a bad S. Indian i have never had this curry and how i wish i had as it looks so so yumm.

cook from doha said...

another version of kofta curry.........looks very nice........

sweet artichoke said...

Vada curry looks awesome and once more I can only praise your idli creativity! Polenta idli is a great idea.
Which polenta do you use? thick or fine cut? the instant one or regular one? Thanks.

Satya said...

Hey are those idlis coming to my event?? btw, you have an award waiting for you at my blog

Rachu said...

Polenta idli? Where do you get such ideas.. such an innovation.. vadacurry looks yummm.. can we make it with uzhunnu vada too??

ammaandbaby.blogspot.com/

Plateful said...

These are totally new recipes to me- both the curry and this type of idli! But then, most of your recipes are new experience to me :) Beautiful pictures!

Umm Mymoonah said...

Hi Foodies, Thank you for sweet and encouraging comments.
To Sathya, Yes it's on the way to your event and thank you for the award :)
To Sweet Artichoke, To be honest I don't know so many version of polenta, I know it's fine, but not sure instant or regular one :)

Pavani said...

mouthwatering vada curry with delicious idli

Ana Rita Marreiros said...

Hi Umm,
I just fall in love with your blog...i went here following you're visit at my blog i just adore your photos, i'm going to look around a little bit...I've already became a follower...Thank's for your visit, hope to see you more and to share recipes or just email...If you need anything, i'm there!

Kiss,

Rita

Zareena said...

Ayeesha, vada curry looks tempting and by adding ground meat to this is a lipsmacking dish.

Jeannie said...

Hi! THanks for visiting my blog, which eventually leads me to your lovely one! Love all the great curry dishes you have here...following you:)

Nandinis food said...

Looks very delicious and scrumptious. Nice combo!

Paula said...

everything here looks so delicious and I`d like to try this :)

Tanishka said...

yummylicious post... :D Since i'm a veggie I'll try Polenta idli... :)

Padhu Sankar said...

Looks fantastic .Your pics are so tempting .Just now read about your garlic bread in another person's blog.Soon going to try it

Mary Bergfeld said...

Both of these dishes sound delicious and have amazing color. Your photos are really lovely. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

HGourmet Foodie said...

I would love dip in to this wonderful curry and have a bite from colorful idli.... This looks like a perfect combo for a breakfast!!! Lovely pic!!!

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

I see many wonderful and new recipes to me here! Thank you for visiting me and I am happy to find my way to you :)

~Susan

Aruna Manikandan said...

hmmm...
love this comba..
idli sounds new to me...
Thx. for sharing dear :)

Unknown said...

WOW! They look absolutely yummy!! Great idea, Ayeesha..I esp loved polenta idlis..They look really soft and lovely!

Madhavi said...

Polenta Idli looks amazing!!!

http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/

Panchpakwan said...

Polenta idli looks delicious...

Sangi said...

polenta idli looks great and yummy vadacurry..

shriannalakshmi said...

Very innovative.Vadacurry with meat sounds interesting.Thanks for the post.

vandana said...

very good blog...
idly looks delicious

Foodie Ann said...

Beautiful pictures....:). Makes me wanna eat it right away....

Anonymous said...

Thank you for commenting on my blog! The dish that you made looks delicious, and after reading it, I'm excited to try more Indian cuisine! I haven't really eaten much of it since college. I look forward to reading future posts!

Scribblingzzz.. said...

U have an award waiting in my blog.
Do accept.
@ My Culinary Trial Room

Ambreen (Simply Sweet n Savory) said...

Vada Curry looks and sounds so good...very nice color of the curry.
Polenta Idli sounds very interesting...new to me though.

Malar Gandhi said...

Wow' vadacurry looks awesome' and Polenta idli sounds great' very innovative recipe:)

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Absolutely absolutely tempting combo.. i love vada curry And i love it so so much.

Kitchen Boffin said...

drool drool.. they look so authentic n tempting.. love the idlis and the curry..

scrambledhenfruit said...

This looks so flavorful and delicious! I've never had idlis before- I've always had naan with Indian dishes. They look very interesting and I really want to try them!

Angela said...

These look delicious! I would love to try this.

Preety said...

polenta idli sounds wonderful..will try this one

Nithu said...

Wow! What a combo. I can't wait to try it. Bookmarked.

Smita Srivastava said...

Love the innovative recipes n the gorgeous clicks !!!

Sunanda said...

First time to your blog. you have an awesome blog.. Vada curry and Polenta Idli looks new very interesting to me.
Sunanda
http://sunandaskitchen.blogspot.com/

Reshmi Ahmed said...

Ayeesha, i tried this instant polenta idlis today and the total time it took was 15 minutes (max.) and guess what, it became an instant hit !
my kids just grabbed from the plate and finished two in less than a minute !
my husband, believe it or not, have never eaten idlis all through his life coz he dislikes them for some unknown reason. But for the first time ur innovation made him love these idlis so much that he asked me for my portion too !!!!! he says, "Hats-off" to you :) thank u so much for sharing this wonderful recipe:)...inshallah cant wait to try ur other instant idlis as well ;)

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