PAKKODA VATHAL
Vathal or vadam is a South Indian delicacy, that is usually made in every South Indian home, during the month of April or May, and will be stored for an whole year. It needs sunlight, for it to dry completely. Since, April and May are the summer seasons in South India, these months are chosen, to make these vathal.
Vathal can be made, either with vegetables, or rice flour. The vathal made with vegetables can be fried, and used in making vatha kulambu. Whereas, the vathal made with rice flour is usually fried, and can be had as a side dish with, any kind of rice.
There are different types of rice vathal. This is one among them. Pakkoda vathal or vengaya vathal is actually a rice vathal, with some spices like, onion, ginger, garlic and curry leaves added to it. Since, pakkoda vathal is made with lots of spices, it is so flavourful compared to other kinds of vathal.
ORIGINAL METHOD:
Vathal is usually, made in a big pot, and will at least take 1 – 2 hours to make . Also, this method will be difficult and tricky for someone, who is not used to making it. It has to be stirred continuously, and there are possibilities, for it to splatter on the person, while boiling.
Rice flour has to be cooked properly, or else the vathal might crack while drying. Checking, whether the rice flour has been cooked through, can be a little tricky, because it has to be done by touching the hot boiling vathal with bare hands.
ABOUT THE RECIPE:
We have been making this pakkoda vathal in our home for generations. We make more than 5 kinds of vathal in our home. Among all the vathal, that we make in our home, this one is my most favourite.
We usually use the original method to make vathal. But now, for the past 3 years, we use a simple method(a short-cut method), using pressure cooker. This is a very safe and easy method and, anyone can make it. We tried this method, as a trial, 3 years back. Surprisingly, it worked. Since then, we shifted to this method. It saves a lot of time and energy, and is also much safer than the original method. It hardly takes 30 minutes to make.
INGREDIENTS FOR PAKKODA VATHAL:
- RICE FLOUR – 4 CUPS
- SABUDANA(TAPIOCA PEARLS) – 1 CUP
- WATER – 8 CUPS (FOR RICE FLOUR)
- GREEN CHILLY – 10 NOS
- CUMIN SEEDS – 2 TBSP
- ASAFOETIDA – 1 TSP
- ROCK SALT – AS REQUIRED
- LEMON (JUICE) – 1 NO. (OPTIONAL)
- GINGER(PEELED) – 200 GMS
- GARLIC(OUTER LAYER HAS TO BE PEELED) – 200 GMS
- ONIONS (LARGE) – 10 NOS
- CURRY LEAVES – 1 BUNCH(20-30 LEAVES)
DESCRIPTION:
RICE FLOUR – We make rice flour from scratch. First wash and dry the rice, and once it’s dried, grind it into fine powder.
*Store bought rice flour can also be used.
SABUDANA(TAPIOCA PEARLS) – Sabudana is the main ingredient for vathal. It gives the fluffy and crisp texture to the vathal.
WATER – For 1 cup of rice flour, 2 cups of water has to be added. This amount of water gives the perfect consistency for pakkoda vathal.
CUMIN SEEDS – Cumin seeds helps in digestion, since it is a fried food.
GREEN CHILLIES – Green chillies is used to give the spiciness required for the dish.
ASAFOETIDA – Asafoetida is a flavouring agent, and is used commonly in every Indian cooking.
ONIONS – As the name says pakkoda vathal/ vengaya(onion) vathal, the main ingredient of this recipe is onion.
GINGER, GARLIC – Ginger and garlic are the basic spices used in Indian cooking. It give all the flavour to the dish.
CURRY LEAVES – Indian cooking is incomplete, without the curry leaves.
HOW TO MAKE PAKKODA VATHAL:
- Soak 1 cup of sabudana, in water for 5 hours. Water doesn’t have to be an exact measurement. Just make sure the sabudana is completely submerged in water.
- After 5 hours, add the sabudana along with water to a pressure cooker, close the lid, and cook it for 3 whistles.
* If there is not enough water in soaked sabudana, add 2 cups of water, while adding it to the pressure cooker.
- Meanwhile, mix 4 cups of rice flour, with 4 cups of water, and keep it aside. Make sure it doesn’t have any lumps.
- Also grind the green chillies, asafoetida and salt along with water, and keep it aside.
- Once the pressure is released, open the pressure cooker.
- In an other large pressure cooker( I have used 8 litre pressure cooker), add 4 cups of water.
- Let it come to boil.
- Once the water boils, add the cooked sabudana to the boiling water.
- Then add the green chilly mixture, and cumin seeds to the pressure cooker, and let it to boil.
- Before, it starts to boil, the vapour releases. Now turn the flame to medium-low.
- At that stage, add the rice flour slurry, to the pressure cooker. Mix it, using a ladle, with another hand, while you add the rice flour slurry, so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pressure cooker.
- Once, you add the rice flour slurry, turn the flame to medium-high. It will start to thicken in just 2 to 3 minutes.
- Once it thickens, as shown in the picture below, close the pressure cooker, and cook for 3 whistles. It takes maximum of 5 minutes to thicken.
*We usually make it at night, and open the pressure cooker, the next day morning, around 6.00 AM. Since, we make it in summer, it will be too hot after 9.00 AM. It will take at least 2 hours. We had to sit under the heat, to make the vathal. We usually start by 6.30 AM, so that we can finish it before 9.00 AM
- The next morning, open the pressure cooker. It would have thickened, even more.
- Meanwhile, grind the ginger and garlic into a coarse paste.
- Transfer it to other vessel, and add the chopped onions, ginger and garlic paste, and curry leaves.
- Mix everything well, and the vathal mixture is ready.
*At this stage, you can add lemon juice to it, which is completely optional. It is used to give pale colour to the vathal.
- In a terrace or rooftop, spread a clean cotton cloth, or a plastic sheet. Place a small amount(approximately 1 tablespoon) of vathal mixture on the cloth, leaving some space between each vathal.
- Let it dry under the sun for 2 days. After 2 days, once the vathal is dried to 80%, sprinkle some water, on the backside of the cloth ( this helps to remove the vathal easily, from the cloth), and remove all the vathal.
- Place the vathal in a plate or tray, and let it dry under the sun for 2 more days, or until it turns hard and crisp. Store it in an airtight container. It can be stored at room temperature for one year.
- Heat 1 cup of oil in a wok, and add 3 or 4 vathal at a time and fry it. It will take just 5 seconds to fry.
YUMMY AND DELICIOUS PAKKODA VATHAL IS READY.
ENJOY IT WITH YOUR FAVOURITE RICE, OR YOU CAN ALSO HAVE IT, AS A SNACK.
I HAD MY PAKKODA VATHAL WITH SUNDAKKAI KARA KULAMBU SADAM AND VAZHAKKAI PODI KARI.
VARIATIONS:
- Adding lemon juice is completely optional. It doesn’t alter the taste of the recipe.
- The number of green chillies added, can be adjusted according to your preference.
- The amount of ginger, garlic and onions added can also be adjusted according to your preference.
- Instead of onions, shallots can also be used. Shallots give a mild sweet flavour to the vathal.