Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

If you like what you see, do leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a suggestion to help me make this better.

You can also request for any recipe you want. Just leave a note in a comment box.

Happy cooking!

Dershana

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Ona Sadya Part 6 - Vendakka Kichadi

The Ona sadya (traditional feast) series continues...

Today it is Kichadi made with Vendakka (Lady's finger/Okra). This is a very simple dish that resembles raita. The difference is in the addition of coconut masala, ubiquitous in Kerala cooking.


Vendakka (lady's finger/okra) - 150 gms
Green chillies - 4 Nos
Slightly sour curds (yoghurt) - 150 ml
Salt to taste
For masala
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Cumin (jeera) - 1/4 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Small onions (Shallots/scallions) - 2 Nos
For tempering
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves - 3 sprigs

The traditional recipe calls for the okra being cut into thin roundels and deep fried. My version is made out of sauted okra roundels. You can choose either method with no compromise on the taste. Only difference is that the deep fried version is crunchier initially, then when the yoghurt blends in fully both versions become equals!

Grind the masala ingredients fine. Chop the green chillies. Heat a teaspoon of oil and crackle mustard. Add in the curry leaves and green chillies. Saute. Add in the masala, fried or sauted okra, and salt. Add in the sour yoghurt. Simmer for just a minute. Take off flame.

This is my sixth entry to Asankhana's Festive food event - Onam celebrations. The event is on at http://asankhana.blogspot.com/2008/09/after-successful-celebration-of-krishna.html

If you liked this, you may also like the following:

For Ona -sadya-part 1 - Aviyal and the Onam legend, check out http://thefootloosechef.blogspot.com/2008/09/ona-sadya-part-1-aviyal.html

For Ona-sadya-part 2- Inji curry, check out http://thefootloosechef.blogspot.com/2008/09/ona-sadya-part-2-inji-curry.html

For Ona-sadya-part 3- Kootu kari, check out http://thefootloosechef.blogspot.com/2008/09/ona-sadya-part-3-kootu-kari.html

For Ona-sadya-part 4- Olan, check out

http://thefootloosechef.blogspot.com/2008/09/ona-sadya-part-4-olan.html

For Ona-sadya-part 5- Kalan, check out

http://thefootloosechef.blogspot.com/2008/09/ona-sadya-part-5-kalan.html

The ona sadya series ends tommorrow with Ada Pradhaman (Rice squares cooked in jaggery and coconut milk). I have purposely avoided the usual fare that includes paruppu (dhal), sambhar, and thoran (stir fried vegetables) from this series. The reason being these dishes feature in almost everyday South Indian cooking and are not unique to feasts though definitely an integral part. I will share my version of these in due course.

11 comments:

Indian Khana said...

Kichadi looks gud and different one for me...nice one dear. Will wait for your finale tmr :)

ST said...

Khichidi looks Awesome and unique.Its new for me .Will definitely try as I like okras.

ST said...

Dershana -Definitely try Dahi Vada and let me know the results.

Vijitha said...

khichdi looks yummy!! i loved okras... so will try ur recipe for sure :-)

Usha said...

Ooh this brings back memories..looks awesome ;)

Unknown said...

Yoghurt n bhindi..nice combo

Deepthi Shankar said...

kichadi looks superb .. i just love okra in any form

Uj said...

Bookmarked this to try for my hubby he loves okra(I do too but not the curds!!).. This looks like an interesting bland..Will try when I get Okra's here.. We get it very rarely ..Thanks :)

Raks said...

We call thid vendakai thayir pachaddi and I too fry it with little oil like u:)Looks yummy!

notyet100 said...

hi i will be waitin for part 4,5,6 and 7 do send them if possible please mail me onam sadya pic with full meal pic and the order in which teh food iserved...will include in the roundup ,will be really glad,..if u can do,.//will be waitin for ur mail....:-)

Dershana said...

Yes, priti, sireesha,and vij let me know if you like it :-)

Thank you so much usha, divya, VP, Rak's kichen, and notyet100

sure Uj, they work with frozen okras too.

 
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