Post Diwali Blues

Wow! It's been a long time since I last posted. What can I say? Diwali is the all-consuming festival and I have been so busy the last week preparing for the Festival of Lights. Rooms to be cleaned and dusted, cobwebs all swept away, buying sweets and new clothes - it's been a hectic time and I loved every minute. Probably because this festival is all about family bonding time. I decorated the door and gate with marigold garlands, had a kumkum and haldi rangoli adorn the front of the gate and lighted diyas with sesame oil and cotton wicks (like in the picture). We performed the Lakshmi Pooja in the evening to usher in prosperity and lit a few fireworks. The rest of the evening was spent in watching a movie.
Now that all the excitement is gone, I feel like one of those flowerpots on the roads - all spent and empty:-) To get over the post Diwali blues, I'm going to post the recipes for my festival foods.

Medhu Vada (or Vadais) are fried lentil snacks shaped like doughnuts. A must for every auspicious occasion, this festival food is simple to make.

MEDHU VADA RECIPE

2 cups of urad dal/ split black gram lentils/ minapa pappu soaked overnight
1 cup finely chopped onion
2-3 chillies sliced finely (skip if you don't like your vada too spicy)
1 tsp cumin/jeera/jillakarra
Salt to taste (about 2 tsps)
Sunflower Oil and wok for deep frying
A square of plastic sheet or a banana leaf
A small bowl of water

Grind the lentils along with the salt in a mixer-grinder or wet-grinder, adding as little water as possible as you don't want the batter to get too runny. The resultant batter should be a smooth sticky paste. Mix in the chopped onion, chillies and cumin. Place the square of plastic sheet or banana leaf on a chopping board and keep a bowl of water handy.
Place the wok on the stove and pour oil in it. Light the stove and keep it at medium-hot. The oil should get really hot but should not smoke.
Wet the sheet/leaf so that batter does not stick to it.
The batter will be really sticky, so dip your hand in the bowl and form it into a little ball the size of an orange, by tossing it a little. Place it on the sheet / leaf and spread till it is flattened. Dip your finger in water and make a hole in the center of this flattened vada. Use the sheet to slip the vada into the hot oil. Be careful! The oil may splutter. If the oil is hot enough, the vada should rise, bubbling, to the surface.
Wait for a little and turn the flame down to low, so that the vada cooks through. The perfect vada is crunchy, deep golden-brown on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside. Like so,


[Picture courtesy:http://www.vahrehvah.com/ Go check out the recipes there!]

Vadas are served with coconut/peanut/tomato chutney or sambar. Enjoy!

Have been reading: Harry Potter series again, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth, P G Wodehouse's Piccadilly Jim