Paruppu Vadai w/ Coconut Chutney

We had our friends visiting us over the weekend after a long time.Since they are not from southern part of India , I decided to make the dinner completely South Indian .We started off with Vadai - Chutney for appetizer and followed with Idly , Pongal,Hotel Sambhar, Chutney  and some spice kothu parotta.Here is the recipe for Paruppu Vadai.


I used only channa dal to make these paruppu vadais for a long long time until one trip to the grocery store with my late father in law.He picked up a packet of "Pattani Paruppu aka Yellow Split Dal" and said 'This is what we should use for authentic Paruppu Vadai' . Since then I have used only this dal .

Paruppu Vadai

What do you need

Yellow split dal aka Pattani paruppu - 1 cup
Red chillies - 4
Asafoedita - a pinch
Curry leaves - as needed
Onion - 1/2 (chopped)
Green chillies - 2 (chopped)
Jeera - 1tsp
Salt - as needed
Oil - for deep frying

How you make it


Soak yellow split dal along with red chillies and jeera for about 2 hrs.After 2 hours , take out 2 tbsp of dal and keep them aside. Grind the rest of the soaked dal into a coarse paste in a mixie(  using very very less water).Add salt ,asafoetida and 2 tbsp of soaked dal (that we kept aside) into this mix . Now add chopped onions, green chillies , curry leaves and make them into small patties. Heat oil for deepfrying in medium flame. Once the oil is hot enough start deep frying these vadai-s until they are golden brown. Serve them hot with coconut chutney.

Note  :Make sure you don't use too much water while grinding dal. Even slightly watery batter won't make good vadais. If at all you think the mix is slightly watery , you can use couple of tbsp of rice flour to adjust the thickness.

Coconut Chutney

What do you need

To grind

Coconut  -  1 cup (shredded)

Green Chillies - 2

Tamarind - a small gooseberry size piece 

Garlic - 1 small pod

Salt - as need

For tempering

Oil - 2tsp

Mustard seeds  - 1/4 tsp

Urad dal - 1/4tsp

Curry leaves - a few

How you make it

Grind the ingredients listed under " To grind" into a paste using little water . Check salt at this point and add if needed.The consistency of the chutney should not be watery,Heat a pan and do the tadka aka tempering with ther ingredients listed under "For Tempering". Serve this side for Idly , Vada, Dosa etc.

Kappa Puzhukku

Tapioca aka kappa another staple of Kerala.I cooked up the easy dish that we make to go with fish curry :D . 

What you need

Tapioca, cubed- 3 cups
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Water-  as needed to cook tapioca
Salt- to taste

To grind

Coconut, grated- 1 cup
Red chili- 3
Cumin seeds- 1 tsp
Garlic- 1 clove

For tempering

Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 sprig


How you make it

Peel the skin off of tapioca and cut them into small cubes .Wash them and boil them in a heavy bottomed pan with just enough water , salt and turmeric powder.On medium flame it should not take that long to cook. Once they are half way cooked , add in the grounded coconut mixture.Check the salt and let it boil until raw smell of coconut mixture is gone and tapioca is fully cooked.Try and smash some of the tapioca pieces and cook until the gravy is thick enough.

In another pan , heat coconut oil and temper the ingredients listed under "For tempering" . Pour these over the cooked tapioca . Serve it hot.

We had these with some nethili meen curry and king fish fry for sunday lunch . I personally love to have these as a tea time snack as well.

Tapioca/Kappa/Kizhangu Dosa is next on my list....