Thalippu Vengaya Vadagam Recipe – Kari Vadagam

I am a big fan of Vengaya Vadagam/ Small onion vadagam since my childhood.This younger generation people may not be aware of this traditional recipe and slowly its forgotton by our people 🙁 When I was young, my dad used to buy a packet of thalippu vengaya vadagam from an Iyer mess every year during summer. My mom adds it in Thuvaram paruppu sadam, Kootan choru and we love to have it as a side dish for curd rice too. . After marriage, I was amazed to see my MIL making Kari vadagam/Vengaya vadam on her own. She says its a very simple recipe preparation and can be easily made at home. Our job is to just mix and make balls. Sun will do the remaining part, she says funnily. Since Sendhil is not fond of vadagam, she stopped making it for some years. This year, I requested her to make this yummy onion vadagam for me. Last week we prepared it in Bangalore. I felt the chopping part and sun drying part takes more time. But the end result will be worth the wait. It came out great with wonderful aroma while frying. Iam enjoying it by making vadagam chutney/thogayal and use it for tempering Vatha kuzhambu and Kootu varieties. Nowadays my lunch smells divine because of this vadagam. You too give a try and feel proud to make your own homemade vengaya vadagam recipe. Lets see how to make this easy and yummy Thalippu Vadagam/ Kari vadam at home.
Check out my Koozh Vadam, Killu vadam and Javvarisi vadam too.

Vengaya vadagam recipe

How to make thalippu vengaya vadagam recipe

Cuisine: South Indian

Category: Homemade

Serves: 15 balls

Prep time: 30 Minutes

Cook time: 10 days

Total time: 10days30Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup – 200ml

Small onion/Shallots – 1.5 cups ( chopped)
Garlic cloves – 1/2 cup ( Chopped)
Chopped curry leaves – 2 tbsp
White urad dal – 1/4 cup ( soak in water for 30 minutes)
Mustard seeds – 1 tbsp
Toor dal – 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds – 1.5 tbsp
Methi seeds -3/4 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Salt – as needed
Castor oil – 2 tsp

Cooking oil – to deep fry vadam after drying

METHOD

Wash and soak the white urad dal for 30 minutes.Wash and peel the small onion and curry leaves.Chop it finely. Peel and chop garlic cloves. Measure them in a cup. Take everything in a wide bowl. Mix well.

To this add, mustard seeds, methi seeds, toor dal, cumin seeds, salt, red chilli powder. Mix well using your hands. Drain the water from the soaked urad dal and grind it coarsely without adding water. Dal should be coarse.

Now mix the dal with onion mixture tightly and make balls of small lemon size. Let it dry under the Sun for a day.Coarse Urad dal paste acts as a binding agent here. So do not skip this step, If you wish, you can spread the mixture as it is without making balls and sun dry them. In that case, take the required amount of dried vadagam, keep in a separate bottle and use it. Reserve the remaining vadagam without touching often because there are chances of getting worms quickly.

On the same day night, take the partially dried balls. Break into crumbs and add castor oil to it. Mix well and make tight balls again. Let it dry over night under the fan. The next day, sun dry the balls.As the balls dry, it will loosen. So roll it tight everyday. Repeat the same process until the balls dry completely and becomes black in color.

It will take nearly one week to 10 days to for the balls to dry depending on the weather/heat. For me, it took nearly 10 days. My MIL says it takes a week in Salem. After the balls are dried well, store in an air tight box.

For adding this gravy, take one ball, break into small pieces and fry in oil until it emits a nice aroma. Add to vatha kuzhambu, Kootu and poricha kuzhambu recipes.