The five-in-one chutney

The five-in-one chutney

Chutney is an Indian condiment prepared most often with coconut, two or three types of dal (dried lentils), green chilies and salt. Don't confuse this with Chutney music or groove Chutney. Some versions of chutney uses vegetables or green leafy vegetables as a main ingredient. Chutney can vaguely be compared with sauce. It is a thick, coarse sauce like dish. In Sanskrit 'catni' (from which the word chutney was derived) means 'to lick'. Most of us would have been tempted to touch the chutney with a finger and lick it as soon as it was placed on the platter. The flagship south Indian delicacies like idly and dosa would have been out of favour but for this taste enhancing condiment. The term 'chutney' has been well assimilated with  Tamil language vocabulary. Of course there is an  alternative term for 'chutney' in tamil. It is 'thuvaiyal'. Normally green chilis are used to prepare the 'chutney' and dried chili peppers for 'thuvaiyal'. Use of dried chilis gives a dark red color to the chutney.

Srirangam Sarangarajan

There are people to whom cooking is a passion . They go on to innovate and invent new delicacies. The five-in-one Chutney is one such invention made by  the proprietor of Sai Mess,Vridhachalam. Shri. Sarangarajan, Maternal uncle of my wife informed me about this delicacy and gave me the recipe also. Sarangarajan during his stint as assistant manager of State bank of India at Vriddhachalam enjoyed this taste enhancer at Sai Mess which was situated at Vridhachalam main road.

INGREDIENTS

Black gram dal -  2 spoonfuls
Bengal gram dal - 2 spoonfuls
Dried chili peppers - 6
Asafoetida powder - a pinch 
Curry leaves - 2 small bunches
Coriander leaves - a fistful of leaves
Coconut - 2 medium sized pieces
Tamarind pulp - 10 grams 
Ginger - a small piece
Tomato - single fruit (Chopped)
Salt - 1/2 spoonful

HOW TO......?

Heat 2 spoonfuls of gingelly oil (Sesame oil, til oil) in a wok. Fry the lentils, dried chilli peppers and asafoetida till they become golden brown in color. Add curry leaves, coriander leaves, chopped tomatoes, ginger pieces and fry for a few seconds. Leave the fried ingredients for a while. After the heat subsides add coconut pieces, tamarind pulp and salt and grind coarsely by adding about 25 m.l. of water.

Now the chutney is ready for you to relish.

The five-in-one chutney or Panchamirtha thuvaiyal

The five-in-one chutney or panchamirtha thuvaiyal, pairs well with idly, dosa, chappathi (flat bread made of wheat), butter milk rice and curd rice. if you like you can also add 2 green chilis and a fistful of fried gram (Alternative terms: roasted gram, 'pottu kadalai' in tamil, 'udacha kadalai' in Chennai parlance). Adding fried gram is suitable for preparing the chutney in bulk quantities.  

Multi Lentil Fritter or " Thavala Vadai"

Fritters are among the most favourite dishes of Tamil Nadu. The major ingredients are dals or lentils, chillies (both raw and dried), asafoetida and salt. The dough made out of these ingredients are then fried in oil. Any fried food is favourite teatime snack for us, the people of Tamil Nadu.

The Multi Lentil Fritter (or " Thavala Vadai", thavala vada as it is called locally) is a traditional snack variety whose roots can be traced back to the Tanjore District of Tamil Nadu.

The past is always fascinating. Though we are destined to live in the present, nobody can rob us the right of reliving the past albeit by rewinding our thoughts to the good old days.

The dish we ate as a child, the dish taht was served by our mom....they are evergreen in our minds.

The Multi Lentil Fritter is one among them.

Every tiny piece of food we eat has its own history. We don't have time or patience to hear.

The Multi Lentil Fritter also has its own tale to tell. The fried vada had its humble origin in the grain basin of Tamil Nadu....Tanjore. The Fritter got its name from the utensil that was used to make it. 'Thavalai' or 'thavala' as it is called colloquially, is a pot like vessel made of bronze. It was used to cook a multi lentil dish called 'thavala adai'. Lateron  the Wok has replaced the bronze pot and the fritter was renamed 'thavala vada'.

'Thavala dosa' is also prepared with similar ingredients as that of 'thavala vada'.

Inspite of being the forerunner in the 'vada' family of snacks, thavala vada is an endangered species now. Due to its complicated process of making , thavala vada has been removed from the list of everyday cooking menu. One can find it on  the menu of small hotels that were established atleast seven decades ago. They too dish it out once in a week and only for two hours in the evenings.

The classical music festival held in the month of December -January (Tamil month of Margazhi) at Chennai is an opportune time to savour the forgotton foods. Some eateries attached to the classical music auditorium serve thavala vada once or twice during this festival season. West Mmbalam Ganambiga Caterer is the best place to relish thavala vada.

Rajan of Gnanambiga caterers

Shri. Rajan, who owns  Gnanambiga prepared this Multi Lentil Fritter a few days ago and gave a demonstaration on how to prepare this special food exclusively for the food blogs-cooknrelish and thalaivazhaivirundhu. Rajan can be contacted at 98400 32684 or madhanrajan7@gmail.com.

My sincere thanks to Shri. A.S.Sundaram (Sundarramg-Doordarshan) & Shri.Murali (All India Radio) for their support in my blogging venture.

INGREDIENTS

(For preparing 15 fritters)

Split Pigeon Pea (Alternative names-Toor dal, thuvaram paruppu) - 200 grams

Split Chickpea (Alternative names-chana dal, bengal gram) - 100 grams

Split black gram  - 50 grams

Split Green Gram (Moong dal) - 50 grams

Raw Rice - 50 grams

Dried Chillies - 10

Grated Coconut - 1/2 Coconut should be grated.

Asafoetida powder - 1/4th of a spoon (flatware)

Cumin seeeds - 1 spoon

Salt - as per the requirement of your tastebuds.

HOW TO PREPARE THE MULTI LENTIL FRITTER (thavala vada)?

Soak the lentils, chillies and raw rice in water (the ingredients should be immersed in water) for 45 minutes. Drain the water completely and grind the ingredients coarsely. Add grated coconut, asafoetida powder and salt and mix well.

Pour considerable quantum of oil of your choice in a wok and heat the oil. Wait till the oil gets warm. Don't wait till the oil reaches its smoke point.

Take a fistful of the ground batter (roughly the size of a big lemon) and make it flat as shown in the pictures.

Fry the falttened batter in the warm oil till the color changes to golden brown.

Now the multi lentil fritter is ready for serving.

Bite a warm and crunchy multi lentil fritter (thavala vada). Let the taste buds takeover.

thavala vada

TIPS TO MAKE IT TASTIER

Mix 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil with the batter for a nice aroma.
Frying should be done using a low flame throughout the frying process.
It is better to flatten the batter on the back of  the round bottom of the spatula and immerse the spatula alongwith the batter into the oil slowly. After a few seconds you can remove the spatula gently. This will prevent the batter from breaking. 

Multi lentil fritter - have a bite...

Nice thavala vadas-have your pick