Woke up last Saturday realizing my neighbor’s kid’s birthday was next weekend. Totally forgot I promised to help with food. Panicked for a solid minute before remembering that South Indian spread idea I bookmarked months ago. Affordable? Tasty? Perfect. Grabbed my phone scrolling through saved recipes while chugging lukewarm coffee.
The Hunting & Gathering Phase
First stop: Local Indian grocery. Wandered those cramped aisles like a lost puppy. Owner took pity on me. Asked for help finding urad dal and chana dal for the vadas. He pointed me right to them, bless him. Got:
- Massive bag of rice flour – way cheaper than pre-made batter
- Fresh curry leaves – smelled incredible
- Mustard seeds & dried red chilies – spicy essentials
- Coconut – splurged on frozen to save time
Hit the regular supermarket next. Rushed past fancy snacks straight to the produce section. Grabbed:
- Ten pounds potatoes – bulk discount!
- Biggest carrots I could find
- Green beans that looked halfway decent
- Loads of onions & garlic – never have enough
Total damage? Less than 30 bucks. Felt like a victory already.
Kitchen Chaos Begins
Cleared the counter Sunday morning. Made Sambhar first. Chopped all those veggies rough & ugly – ain’t nobody got time for perfect cubes. Threw ’em in my biggest pot with water. Measured the tamarind paste wrong at first. Way too sour. Dumped some extra water and sugar to fix it. Thank god that worked. Let it bubble angrily for ages.
Moved on to Coconut Chutney. Scraped out half the frozen coconut. Blender refused to cooperate. Added splash after splash of water while it choked. Became soup. Frustrating. Fried mustard seeds and urad dal in ghee – poured that oil mess into the blender sludge. Stirred like crazy. Looked sad. Tasted amazing? Holy cow. Pure luck.
Medu Vada time. My nemesis. Soaked urad dal overnight. Blitzed it with ginger and water. Batter stuck to my fingers like cement. Tried making hole-in-the-middle shapes. Looked like mutant donuts. Hot oil spat like an angry cat. Burnt my pinky. Dropped one vada splashing oil everywhere. Panicked. Lowered the heat. Batch three finally looked somewhat round. Crispy outside, soft inside. Almost cried with relief.
Saved easiest for last: Tomato Rice. Fried onions golden brown. Burned some. Picked out the black bits. Added leftover rice from yesterday’s dinner. Squeezed two huge spoiled tomatoes I forgot about. Added chili powder like my life depended on it. Stirred till my arm hurt. Smelled like heaven.
The Moment of Truth
Packaged everything nervously on party day. Neighbor’s aunt took one bite of vada. Nodded silently. Kept eating. Kids demolished the tomato rice. One guy came back for fourth helping of sambhar. “This coconut thing good?” someone asked pointing at chutney. Next thing I know, the bowl was scraped clean. Got thumbs-ups and “next time teach us!” comments. Best compliment? When they asked which caterer I used. Laughed my tired butt off.
Final thoughts? Vadas are still scary. Cheap veggies rock. That watery chutney was somehow perfect. Sambhar saves everything. Worth every burnt finger.