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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Summer goodies #3 - Pavakka vathal

The title has probably made you wonder why Iam still talking about summer. Well, if you don't know it already, it's almost always summer in Chennai. A few unseasonal showers did give us some days of respite, but it is now back to the heat that Iam slowly but not very successfully beginning to learn to ignore.
Two hot summer noons is all that it took for these bittergourd slices to be dried to a crisp.

Here's what you need:
Bittergourd - 3 large ones
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste (add more salt than you normally would for curries)
Water - enough to cover the bittergourd

Chop the bittergourd into medium sized circles and remove the seeds and pith.
Add turmeric, salt, water and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until the water just starts to boil. The bittergourd should not get cooked.
Leave it alone for about 20-25 minutes so that the salt gets absorbed.
Drain off all the water.
Spread on a plastic sheet and dry in the sun until all the moisture evaporates and the gourd becomes hard to the touch.
To use, heat some oil in a pan and deep fry a handful of the dried bittergourd and serve as an accompaniment with rice.

Check out my Summer goodies #1 - Ela vadam and #2 - Microwave mango thokku.

14 comments:

Bharathy said...

Vathal, splities of our state..Love vadams of any kind..But I always have that thinking that these kinda jobs are for the Grandmas of the house :)..
Green peas with methi leaves sounds nice..will try soon :)

ST said...

Pavakka vathal looks delicious..Its new for me .Will try soon.....

FH said...

My hubby likes these, looks great Jaya!:))

Kalai said...

Absolutely delicious, Jayashree!! I love pavakkai in just about any form and this sounds like heaven! :)

mitr_bayarea said...

Jayashree,

The pavakkai vathal looks amazing, made me very nostalgic for some, its been ages since I had any kind of vathal. Enjoy!

Unknown said...

nice one..i love pavakai this way..crunchy!!

KALVA said...

Wow you must one patient cook....

sra said...

Just two days? You must have sliced them really fine.

Sunshinemom said...

Amazing! I don't attempt these, so kudos to you:)

Rachel said...

This gourd when fried with onions is something that I love...

This looks good....

kamala said...

Love all vathals Jayashree..Like to eat withe curd rice

Dee said...

My five year old is obsessed with these. I'm not complaining because it sure beats a chocolate addiction!

rajini audacious said...

U can make it crunchier by adding ground rice flour after u drain it from cooking...In this way u can avoid the process of drying t up in the sun...

rajini audacious said...

U can make it crunchier by adding ground rice flour after u drain it from cooking...In this way u can avoid the process of drying t up in the sun...