Kothimbir Vadi

Kothimbir Vadi, a savory cilantro cake which is first steamed and then fried until crisp. This is a quintissential Marathi dish, and I so wanted to try making it myself! I am happy to report that is very easy to make and turns out very tasty indeed. Cilantro is my favorite herb and this dish really showcases cilantro instead of giving it the seemingly superfluous role of a garnish. Kothimbir vadi can be served as a snack with any chutney but I really love eating it as a side dish with dal and rice.

The one special equipment you need to make this dish is a steamer. If you own a pressure cooker, it was be used without the "weight" to steam this vadi. I chose to fashion a steamer from a pot of boiling water with a steel sieve fitted into it and the vessel placed on the sieve and covered

The steamed vadi is perfectly fine for eating on its own (a very tasty and healthy snack indeed). Of course it tastes even better when fried and crispy :) Alternatively, if you would like something in between, make a "tadka" of oil, mustard and cumin seeds and pour over slices of steamed vadi.

Kothimbir Vadi(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
2 cups packed cilantro leaves, chopped fine
1 cup chickpea flour/besan
1 tbsp. rice flour
1/4 cup mixed flours (ragi or millet flour/ atta or wheat flour/ any other you have on hand)
4 green chillies, minced fine
1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. poppy seeds
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. turmeric
pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp. garam masala
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sugar
salt to taste
Oil for frying

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, except for the oil.
2. Add enough water to make a thick batter and stir well to remove all lumps.
3. Grease a flat vessel. Pour the batter into the vessel.
4. Steam for about 30 minutes till a skewer inserted in the middle comes clean.

Yummy Appey (Puffy Rice Cake)

List of Ingredients:
1 1/2 C rava/ sooji/ semolina
2 T chana dal
1 C plain yogurt (low-fat OK, tangy yogurt works best)
Baking soda
Non-stick oil spray

Flavorings:
2-3 T minced onion
1 heaped t minced ginger
2-3 green chillies, minced (or to taste)
2-3 T minced cilantro
salt to taste

Method:
1. Soak the chana dal in a small bowl of water for 30-60 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix the rava and yogurt, along with enough water to make a thick batter, and cover and leave aside for 30-60 minutes.
3. Make the batter: Add soaked chana dal to yogurt-rava mixture, then add all the flavoring ingredients and salt to taste, and add enough water to make a batter that is a little thicker than pancake batter.
4. Spray the appey molds with non-stick spray, then heat them on the stove.
5. Take a third of the batter into another bowl, add 1 t baking soda to it, mix gently until bubbles form, then ladle the batter into each of the hot molds.
6. Cover the pan for a couple of minutes. Once the underside is done, use the tool to flip each appam over:
7. Once both sides are cooked and crispy, remove the appey from the molds. Make more appey using the same method- adding baking soda at the last minute before cooking.
8. We served the appey with fresh coconut chutney and eggplant sambar for a delicious savory breakfast.

Idli-Sambar

For the Idlis Ingredients:
1 cup urad dal
2 cups idli rava (coarsely ground rice)salt to taste
Non-stick spray (such as "Pam") for greasing molds

Method:
1. Soak urad dal overnight in warm water. Grind it to a fine paste.
2. Soak idli rava for 30 minutes in warm water.
3. Mix the soaked idli rava and ground urad dal in a bowl, cover and leave overnight to ferment. 4. Once the batter is doubled in volume, use it right away or place it in the refrigerator until needed.
5. To make idlis, spray the molds with non-stick spray (or brush with oil). Add salt to the idli batter, mix lightly and scoop into the molds (half-full).
6. Steam for 10-15 minutes till a knife inserted into the idli comes clean.

SambarIngredients:
1 cup toor dal (split yellow peas), cooked
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
5-6 fresh curry leavespinch of asafoetida
1/2 small onion, minced
2 cups mixed diced veggies of your choice (I used eggplant, peas, carrot, cauliflower)
1 tsp tamarind paste1 tbsp sambar powder (available in stores)
2 tbsp cilantro, minced

Method:
1. Make a "tadka" by heating oil and adding cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida.
2. Add onion, turmeric, salt, chilli powder and saute for a minute.
3. Add veggies and saute for a minute.
4. Add enough water to cover the veggies, tamarind paste, sambar powder and let the veggies simmer till just tender (5-7 minutes).
5. Add cooked dal, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Garnish with cilantro.