Badi/Vadi Besara

This time I am coming down to a very authentic recipe. 'Besara' is a genre of Oriya curry which is prepared with mustard paste as the primary masala/spices ingredient. In this case Vadi/Badi cooked in mustard paste is termed as Badi Besara. Well now I will try to explain the first part of the name - Badi or Vadi as is called in some other parts of India. Badi is primarily sun-dried chunks made of barter. The barter could be different for different kind of Badis. To make things simple, go to any Indian store if you are outside India or go to any supermarket in India and get yourself any variety of Vadi that you might like. I personally like the ones prepared from black grams. Ok now let’s get down to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 15 Badi/Vadi (Oriya: Badi)


• 3 Finely cut midsized tomatos


• 2 Chopped green chillies


• 1 tsp Panch Phutana (In absense of this, you can manage with Mustard Seed and Jeera)


• 3 tsp mustard paste (you can use english mustard paste but does not taste as good as freshly ground paste)


• 3 cloves of Garlic - crushed


• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder


• 2 tsp of oil


• Salt to taste


• Finely chopped coriander leaves for garnishing.

Method:

1. Heat the frying pan and add oil


2. Add Vadis and fry till golden brown. Take out and keep them aside.


3. Add panch phutan to the remaining oil and allow them to sputter. If you feel the oil is less, you could add some more oil.


4. Add crushed garlics and allow them to fry a little.


5. Now add tomatoes, green chilies, turmeric and wait till the tomatoes are nicely mashed and soft.


6. Add salt and a cup of water and allow them cook for 5 minutes. YOu can add more water if you want little more gravy.


7. When the gravy starts to simmer nicely, add the mustard paste and crushed garlic. Cover the lid of the pan and cook them for 5 more mins.


8. Add fried vadi and cook them for another couple of mins.


9. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with steam rice and lentils (dal)