Sigappu keerai vadai ( Red amaranthus leaf fritters)

Friends and family who have closely been a part of my food journey know that dishes like keerai vadai , bajji and bonda are not my forte’ . I love cooking Indian food and my favourite South Indian dishes but these fried snacks never got made in my kitchen due to several reasons. The foremost being my lack of knowledge when it comes to the deep frying technique and also that maybe it wasn’t healthy.

As my knowledge of traditional Indian food continues to grow so too does my appreciation for ancient recipes, deep fried and otherwise. It occurred to me that when foods are eaten in the right quantity, made the traditional way ,during the right time of year, when leading a very active lifestyle, these dishes also contribute to health and wellness.

Using a good quality cold pressed oil adds flavour to the ingredients and also allows us to feel satiated after two helpings. I think we can go upto 1, 2 maybe even a slightly greedy 3 vadai portion without feeling that we committed a crime. Also one should eat without fear and minus regrets. If it’s so wrong just abstain from doing so.When you actually put thought into it ,it really works.

This again is a Rujuta Diwekar gyan (she’s amazing !)

Here’s the thing , I probably don’t need to reach for that potato chip but a keerai vadai made with fresh red Amaranthus is so much more worth the calorie intake from the deep frying.

Okay I am not even attempting to dodge  all those daggers the potato chippers are throwing at me but you know what I am trying to get at ! 🙂

The opportunity to cook all these delicious dishes is also because of initiatives like Seeragam , Bio Basics,  Iyal  and Wild Earth Foods who are committed to providing real ingredients produced in a conscious manner. so if I am unable to grow some of them due to lack of time, I do know the people who we can rely on. The bunch of red Amaranthus at the Wild Earth Foods store at Saibaba colony, (sigappu thandu keerai) looked irresistible (another post coming up soon) that we had to do justice to the freshness. I think a keerai vadai to enjoy the rain is mandatory, don’t you think ?

I also love how this picture turned out. We had pulled apart one vadai to check if it was cooked. It was left aside on a plate. The red peeking from the inside looked so vibrant that my kitchen helper decided to add it to the bowl while I was fiddling with my camera lens. On looking up, I loved the colour contrast of her saree against that of the plates and also wanted to capture the moment where she tried to help.

I loved how it turned out so made it my main image 🙂 Hope you like it too.

Do try this recipe and here’s to more rainy evenings, getting sufficient rainfall and to making the best of our scarce natural resources.

Rainwater harvesting is the way forward.