Spicy~Crisp Rice Vade (Vodo).

"Spicy~Crisp Rice Vade (Vodo)" for today's lunch ... these are crispy aromatic vades loaded with spices, that can be served during lunch time or as snack too ... they taste simply kur-kuri or should I say nur-nuri and most of the time I finish off half of it while frying .... Yumz .... 

** Rice Vade’s / Vodo also known as kaayi vade meaning vadas prepared out of coconut, are a delight to munch on both during lunch time or just as a snack too. There are two ways of preparing these awesome vade’s. One that is crisp fried and the other like poori. The recipe for both remains the same, but the difference is in the texture of the ingredients. For preparing the poori the ingredients added on should be finer ground and for crisp one’s it should be coarser. Again the poori can be rolled or even pressed between sheets, while for the coarser vade it is usually patted into round shape as you can see in the enclosed picture. I will soon post the poori too so that you can check the same for yourself and will then share the links to each other in respective posts. Coming to the crisp Vade’s these are usually served as side dish during lunch time along with other dishes as it is an great accompaniment similar to bajias and is great to munch in between the rice and curry dishes. 

** It had been quite sometime since I prepared these Vade’s and my hubby had been dropping hints that he has almost forgotten how it tastes. But what with consistent back to back problems and workload along with lined up festivals, I just could not do the same. A few days back I felt it was really high time I did it, so made a note to prepare the same today, as today being “Hartalika / Gowri Pooja / Vaina Pooja” is a festive day for us Konkani Saraswats, though the same is held only in those homes that have been handed over the same over generations and in my home we have not had such an opportunity. We used to go to my Maternal Aunt’s home during this festival and my Aunty who had such an large heart and was an awesome cook, saw to it that we always relished all the goodies prepared on the festive occasion. Those are nostalgic memories that have come to an end and now in my family nobody got this opportunity of preparing the same. 

** Well, without running it much more details on festival, let us move on to the vade recipe. For the Vades the spice ingredients added on are comparatively more than that for the poori. Again they are coarsely ground and the Vade turn into spicy~crispy one’s. Here is my method of preparing “Spicy~Crisp Rice Vade” that can be relished during lunch time or as snack …. My Style ...

** Ingredients: 

Rice Flour / Tandla Pitti : 3 cups. 

Coconut : 1 cup finely grated (white portion of the coconut) 

Kashmiri Red Chilly 2-3 

Green Chilly : 4-5 

Coriander Seeds / Kothimbir / Dhania : 2-3 tsp 

Jeera / Cumin Seeds : 1.5 tsp 

Ajwain / Oam / Vonvo : ½ tsp 

Fennel Seeds / Badisep / Saunf : ½ tsp 

Asafoetida / Hing : ½ to 1 tsp depending upon its aroma. 

White Til / Sesame : 1 tsp 

Curry Leaves / kadipatta / Karbev : 10-12 fresh ones. 

Salt to Taste 

Oil : 2 tblsp 

** Oil for deep frying. 

** Add coriander seeds, fennel seeds, Ajwain and jeera in a mixer grinder and run till you get a semi coarse powder, sort of fine rava texture. Now add in the white til and just run the mixer or pulse for a second. Remove and put it in a wide stainless steel bowl. 

** Now in the same mixer add in the green chillies cut to pieces and run till you get coarsely ground chilly paste. Do not add water. Add this to the ingredients in the bowl. Now add in the coconut gratings into the mixer grinder along with a tablespoon of water and grind to a paste. Remove and add this also to the ingredients in the bowl. 

** Now finely chop the curry leaves and add to the ingredients along with hing powder, salt to taste and the oil into the bowl. Mix the mixture well to a crumbled texture. Finally add in the rice flour and give it a good mix. Keep sprinkling some hot water (not boiling) and mix the mixture to get an soft dough consistency. Keep this covered aside for 15-20 minutes. 

** Now knead the mixture again well and divide into equal lemon sized balls. Now either on a thick polythene sheet/silicon sheet or banana leaf apply a little bit of oil and spread well. Place the rolled ball on it and pat it into a round shape of about 3 inches in dia, gently taking care that it does not crack up. If it gives cracks then sprinkle some more water and mix the mixture well and then repeat the procedure. 

** Keep plenty of oil in a thick bottomed kadai to heat, while you prepare the vades on the other side. Prepare 4-5 Vades on the sheet and keep them ready. When the oil comes to a smoking point, lower the heat and allow to cool for 3-4 minutes. Check the heat level by adding a small droplet of the mixture. If it sinks down and after a few seconds, sizzles and comes up, that means the heat temperature of the oil is of right level. 

** Gently flip over the Vade on your hand by inverting the sheet slightly from the back, and then leave the same into oil gently. It will slip off easily (similar to that of any other vada preparation). Let it sizzle and come up, now add in another and follow the same way, ie wait for it to sizzle up. You can add 3-4 at one time, allow it to cook and after a few minutes flip it over with a slotted spatula. Let the Vadas cook till evenly browned and crisp. 

** Note : A minute or so is left between the addition of vadas so that the same does not stick to each other, which may be the case if you put it all in one go, so just leave a gap of a minute before you add in the next one, this gives it time to get cooked and they will not stick to each other. 

** While the same is being friend prepare another batch of Vades on the sheet by the same patting method and keep it ready. Once the Vadas and fried and done remove them with the help of of ringed/slotted/holed spatula and put it on an absorbent sheet for the excess oil to get drained off. Now add in the next batch and follow the same method of frying. Repeat till all the mixture is used and done. 

** "Spicy~Crisp Rice Vade” are done and ready to be served. Serve them hot as an accompaniment to rice and other dishes or you can relish it as it is as a snack too. I actually finish off a few of them as I fry as I love them hot from the kadai. Sigh, I guess man is never satisfied or should I say the tongue seeks no satisfaction and keeps asking for more. 

** Do try out the awesome Vades that are spicy and crisp and enjoy with your family and friends. You can prepare the dough and keep it ready and fry in a few hours or if you want to fry after many hours, then I suggest you put it in an airtight container and store it in the fridge until further time and remove it say about 20 minutes before frying the same. 

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