Vendakkai puli mandi , is basically a chettinad recipe, with vendakkai | ladies finger based gravy, pairs well with plain rice. Though i have heard this, happened to taste this in my neice wedding, i recently attended in India. Me and my sister got hooked up by its taste and asked the person who was serving, the name of the dish. Then we both went straight into the kitchen and looked for the chief cook and asked him the recipe. He was bit busy that time and gave his phone number and asked me to contact him the next day. So after the wedding got over, the next day i called the chief cook (Mr. Janakiraman) and he patiently explained the recipe and also clarified my queries on few other authentic recipes too. Check out my other south Indian gravy recipes

  • Vendaya keerai kara kuzhambu
  • Arai puli kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 35 Mins | Serves: 2-3

Vendakkai | ladies finger 6 Oil 1 tblsp Red chili powder 2-3 tsp Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp Tamarind a small gooseberry sized Washed rice water(mandi) 1 and 1/2 cups Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp Fresh Coconut 3 tblsp Sombu | fennel seeds 1/2 tsp Shallots | chinna vengayam 2 Garlic 3 pods Curry leaves few Salt as needed

Vendakkai puli mandi - 1

Method:

  • Wash and pat dry the ladies finger. Cut them into big pieces. In a pan add oil and add in the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds splutters add the ladies finger to this. Cook this in a medium flame till it becomes nice golden brown.
puli mandi - 2
  • Take the extract of tamarind using the rice mandi. Rice mandi is nothing but the washed water we get from rice.
  • Wash the rice once and discard the water. Add some more water and wash for the second time and preserve the water for making this vendakkai puli mandi.
  • Add the tamarind extract using 1 and 1/2 cup of rice mandi (washed rice water).
vendakkai puli mandi 2 - 3
  • Add red chili powder, salt and turmeric powder to this.
  • Meanwhile grind the coconut, fennel seeds, onion and garlic into a fine paste using little water.
vendakkai puli mandi 3 - 4
  • Add the ground masala to the pan. Mix well and let it boil nicely till it reaches a gravy (kuzhambu) consistency.
vendakkai puli mandi 4 - 5
  • Once it reaches nice thick gravy consistency add jaggery and switch off the flame. Mix well.
puli mandi - 6
  • Puli mandi is ready to serve. This can be served with dosa too.
Vendakkai puli mandi - 7
  1. Cook the ladies finger nicely without getting it burnt.
  2. You can grind a small piece of cinnamon too. Since i don’t like cinnamon, i didn’t add.