Vendaikaai Mandi | Puli Mandi - Chettinad Special
Vendaikaai Mandi, a Chettinadu cuisine specialty. A tangy tamarind gravy made with rice washed water.
Servings 4 people
Calories
Ingredients
- 10 nos Ladies finger
- 20 nos Small onion/Shallots
- 1 pod Garlic i used the big variety, had around 10 big cloves
- 1 no medium-sized tomato chopped
- 4 nos green chillies cut into two
- 2.5 cups Arisi Mandi/Rice-washed water
- ¼ cup Mochai/Dried green beans soaked overnight
- a small goose-berry sized tamarind
- salt to taste
Tempering
- 1-2 tablespoon Gingely oil
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 pinches hing/asafoetida
- 2 sprigs curry leaf
Instructions
- Soak mochai/green beans overnight. Next day, drain the water, pressure cook with a cup of water for 2 whistles, drain and keep aside. I m using dried beans, which has to soaked and pressure cooked, if using fresh field beans, skip this step.
- Arisi Mandi
- In a south-indian household as regular rice eaters, we just need to save the rice washed water when we cook rice. If you don't eat rice regularly and want to try this, mix 1 teaspoon of rice flour to 1 cup of water thoroughly, to make instant rice mandi.
- Soak tamarind in 1 cup of Arisi mandi/rice washed water. Soak shallots in plain water to ease peeling them.
- Heat a oil given under "Tempering" in a Kadai/Pan. Splutter mustard seeds, add curry leaves, fenugreek, hing and turmeric powder.
- Next add chilies, chopped onion and garlic and sauté for 2 minutes. Now add the ladies finger and sauté nicely for another 3 minutes.
- Next add chopped tomato, mochai /green beans, and 1½ cups of Arisi mandi and cook in medium flame.
- In the meantime, extract juice from the tamarind soaked in the arisi mandi/rice washed water. Since i have used dried tamarind, i had to soak and extract juice. If using tamarind paste, add the paste directly to the mandi and mix it.
- When the okra/lady's finger is ¾ th cooked, add salt and tamarind extracted Arisi mandi/Rice washed water. Let the mixture boil for 5-8 minutes after tamarind is added.
- Take it off the flame, the gravy will not be too thick or too thin. Serve it warm with rice or as an accompaniment to Idly/Dosa.
- The mandi adds a unique texture and taste to the gravy. It tastes yum, when served the next day. We enjoyed it with hot rice and also with dosa too.