My temperature got a rise; from a cool 98 it reached 99 this afternoon. No, it’s not another flu attack and I think it is all because of our lunch.
This morning I prepared a special curry. Potatoes, brinjals and tomatoes together cooked with Punjabi wadis. Like Punjabi Sun, wadis – the sun dried lentils and spices mixture, a Punjabi specialty are hot, the kind that makes one warm, tingly and perspire. They look pale brown in color and inside, you will find a maroon colored combination of lentils, like urad dal, moong dal and spices like black peppers, cumin and red chilli. They are ground together and the mixture is sun dried in round shapes. Usually added to curries, they are savory, full of flavor and completely delectable! Just the right thing to have when recovering from a flu attack to wake up those taste buds.
I first heard about wadis at Mika’s beautiful The Green Jackfruit blog. Her description of wadis captivated me. After trying them, I can truly say that their flavor profile is unique and they are quite addictive. Give it a try.
Tomato, Purple Brinjal and Red Potato with Broken Pieces of Punjabi Wadi
Recipe:
2 each – red potatoes, brinjals and Punjabi wadis
4 ripe juicy tomatoes
1 onion
1 teaspoon -ginger-garlic-coriander paste (GGC paste)
1 teaspoon – coriander-cumin-cinnamon-cloves powder (CCCC powder/garam masala)
¼ teaspoon each or to taste – red chilli powder, turmeric and salt
1 tablespoon of oil and popu ingredients
Peel the potatoes, wash and cube them to bite sized pieces. Remove the petals of brinjals, wash and cut to one-inch chunks. Add them to a bowl of salted water and keep aside. Break Punjabi wadis (each wadi is usually the size of a big tomato) to 4 to 5 pieces in a cup. Finely chop tomatoes and onion to small pieces.
In a wide skillet, heat oil. Add and saute the broken Punjabi wadi pieces to honey color. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep them in a cup to the side.
In the same skillet, add and saute popu ingredients (half teaspoon each-cumin, mustard seeds and curry leaves). When mustard seeds start to jump around, add the onion and cook to soft. Next, add tomatoes, potatoes and brinjal pieces. Stir in GGC paste, CCCC powder, red chilli powder, turmeric and salt along with a cup of water. Mix and cook on medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the potatoes become tender, stirring occasionally.
Just before turning off the heat, stir in wadi pieces. Cook for another 5 minutes so that they would get softened and absorb the curry flavor. Serve warm with chapati or naans.
Potato-Brinjal Curry with Punjabi Wadis and Garlic Naan
Notes:
Punjabi Wadis are available in Indian grocery shops, here in US.
Recipe adapted from Mika’s The Green Jackfruit
Am I the first one here to comment? If so, then that would be a privilege! What a great picture! Yummo! Haven’t heard of wadis before…will certainly try…curious to know how it would taste!
I came here to check your recipes on red bell pepper chutney and besan dosa (making it for dinner tonight! – almost 5pm – need to do the prep!)
thanks and bye
praba
Comment by Desimom — March 6, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
Wow Indira, brinjal is a favourite of mine. This looks so tasty and garlic naan is something I cant resist. Will surely try this!
Comment by Deepika — March 6, 2007 @ 3:35 pm
Hi Indira,
My Ma makes this curry often and I love it – so many flavors in one curry 🙂 I sometimes add a tbsp or 2 of fresh dill alongwith the Wadi’s – Mmm Mmm good.:)
Comment by Sangeeta — March 6, 2007 @ 3:42 pm
Hi Indira
Picture and recipe look wonderful as usual. We add Pindi vadiyalu in brinjal koora too.. we also add them to curries like cabbage with coconut, anapakaya pappu koora etc. My mother also adds gummadi vadiyalu to pulusu. I will try this punjabi wasdis..
– Nalini
Comment by Nalini — March 6, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
Looks truly scrumptious Indira!
Cheers
Latha
Comment by Latha — March 6, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Very typically Punju sabzi recipe :). You should try mooli-wadi also(i mentione in previous comment in your previous post on wadis)-its even spicier (if you like spicy).
Comment by musical — March 6, 2007 @ 5:03 pm
Glad that you liked the wadis…
They are good in sambar too. I use it like sambar vadam… just fry it lightly and add it to boiling sambar. It softens up but tastes great.
Comment by mika — March 6, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
I really like the taste of vadis..I remember as a kid, when I visited Rajasthan, I had the best “mongodi(vadi) ki subzi”…that taste hasn’t been replicated since. Punjabi vadis have an interesting flavor…my MIL makes a really nice cabbage-punjabi vadi curry.
Thanks for this new recipe…will be a nice change from my ho-hum ringan-batata curry.
Comment by Trupti — March 7, 2007 @ 4:05 am
Hi Indira,
I am a great fan of yours and got the previlege to comment for the first time. Never tried Punjabi Wadis. so my weekend shopping list is ready now.
delicious recipe!!
sharmi
Comment by sharmi — March 7, 2007 @ 6:14 am
Hi indira,
I happened to see ur website today for the first time and was amazed to see your recipes and presentation style.
Wow!u have done an excellent work.
I am new to the world of blogging and ur site is an inspiration to a lot of new bloggers like me.
And btw potato brinjal curry is yummy…wanna try it soon.
Have a good day!
Madhoori
Comment by madhoori — March 7, 2007 @ 8:46 am
You know what we use a lot of Vadis in Bengali cuisine too but not the “Punjabi” ones, and I don’t get the Bengali Vadis here 🙁
Maybe I should get these vadis and try them with my dish
Comment by sandeepa — March 7, 2007 @ 9:00 am
i too love this recipe .we do with the pumpkin vadis that we prepare.but never added potato.looking tasty!!
Comment by swapna — March 7, 2007 @ 10:09 am
the wadis look dry… how could u suate them to brown?? Or do they soak up in the curry later and get well-cooked? Help!
Comment by Vanitha — March 7, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
Hi Indira…
Actually I am posting this comment as I could not find your email address here. This is not a comment on your food but about the content of your website. You can delete this comment if your wish after you read it.
I was looking for a recipe of Lemon pickle and interestingly I found your site first and then another site which has the same photo as your lemon pickle. Is someone lifting your content without your permission. Here is the link:
angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/chillilimepickle.html
I have seen this persons site and there are many photos which seem like I have seen them somewhere but cannot place them. Luckily, I could link the pickle one to your site. Maybe your fellow food bloggers can check this site out for any unauthorized lifts.
All the Best Gals and Guys!
Comment by anjali — March 7, 2007 @ 3:21 pm
Hi Indira,
I have seen punjabi wadis in Indian stores but have not tried cooking with them . ur recipe sounds interesting to me and I would love to try it sometime later.Thanks
Comment by prema — March 7, 2007 @ 6:42 pm
Hi Prabha, the honor is all mine. I enjoy reading your comments very much.
Hope you had a wonderful meal yesterday.
Hi Deepika, if you try, let me know how you like it. Thanks.
Sangeetha, addition of dill sounds wonderful. I will keep that in mind for my next try. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Nalini: I am familiar with gummadi vadiyalu. But pindi vadiyalu, we do not make them and but my friends from Kosta region often prepare the dishes you mentioned. They taste little bit different from this Punjabi wadis.
Tastes great, Latha. Try it.
I love spicy stuff, Musical. My next try with punjabi wadis will be your mooli-wada. Thanks for the recipe.
Mika: all thanks to you!:) otherwise I’d have never tried those.
adding them to sambar sounds good.
Hi Trupti: Cabbage Punjabi wadi, is it like dry curry? or tomatoes etc are also added? I would like to try. Please share.
Sharmi and Madoori: Congratulations and best wishes on your new blogs. Keep up the good work!
Sandeepa: there are Bengali vadis too? I am guessing, mustard seeds are added, right? 🙂
Hi Swapna: this is little bit different from pumpkin vadis. and I like gummadi (pumpkin) vadis also.
Vanitha: they get browned when you saute them in oil and later when we add them to the curry, they soak up the sauce and will get softened. They are like vadiyams. Only thing they are quite big in size so we have to break them to pieces.
Hi Anjali, thanks for posting the link. Lime pickle photo is mine and also I see there are several photos from other food blogs also. They did not ask for permission. I have to contact them. God, I hate these people.
Hi Prema: They taste good, give it a try.
Comment by Indira — March 7, 2007 @ 6:49 pm
Hi Indira,
I just saw Anjali’s comment with a link to the site which had one of your pics. Here is another one of your pics on the same site.
http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspakistan/eggpakoray.html
Comment by Mini — March 7, 2007 @ 6:59 pm
Hi Indira,
This is my first comment here. I love reading your food blog. This punjabi wadi reminded me of karuVadam made by us Tamilains. I don’t have the recipe but it consists of ground mixture of urad dal and spices and dried in the sun and stored year long.
A typical application is to fry them and add to Kootu or Kuzhambu.
Comment by Lakshmi — March 23, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Hi Indira,
I love the recipes you have on your blog and i am trying it out.
can you please let me know how to make garam masala powder with measurements for Cummin,Cloves,cinnmaon,corainder and cardamon.
Thanks
Comment by rachel — June 12, 2007 @ 10:06 am
hi,
nice recipes, tried a few. Can’t find recipes related to Gummadi kaya(koora).
Comment by janaki — October 7, 2007 @ 7:43 pm
Following your recipe this is the first time that I had tasted Wadi curry with tomatoes and eggplanr after more than 30 years. This is because I never knew how to prepare it. The last time I tasted this curry was when I was taken by an Indian friend in Calcutta to a Punjabi restaurant and once I got the taste I assured myself that I visited the restaurant ever so often.
Thanks Indira. May I also have some more wadi recipes please.
Comment by Gilliana of OZ — October 11, 2011 @ 10:38 pm
I made this over the weekend and it was delicious. Thank you so much for posting. This is the first time I’ve used punjabi wadis and I was very uncertain about what to do with them. So thank you for posting this recipe, I’ll definitely be making it again.
Comment by kathryn elliott — May 20, 2012 @ 9:36 pm