Sundaikkai_Dried_for_Preserving

 #SundaikkaiDried for Preserving - #SundaikkaiVathal :

Sundaikkai [ Sundakkai ] is called Devil's fig, Prickly nightshade, Turkish berry, Wild eggplant, pea eggplant in English. The scientific name is Solanum torvum.

#Sundaikkai [ #Sundakkai ] tastes like brinjal but slightly bitter. It is commonly dried in the Sun to make vathal. The fried sundaikkai vathal is used in the preparation of vatha kuzhambu and tastes good with sambar rice.

 I used to buy sundaikkai vathal from grocery shops. But I fry them in oil once in a blue moon and relish with curd rice and sambar mixed rice. But the excess amount of salt in the vathal is one of the reasons for consuming it sparingly. I always prefer to have fresh sundaikkai - Turkish berry in my cooking. But it is very difficult to get this vegetable in the regular market. Some old ladies from nearby villages of towns used to sell them outside market areas on the roadsides. Sundaikkai is not consumed by many people. Only a select few would like to buy it whenever they see it in the market. So whatever we get from the market would be consumed in a day or two. there won't be enough left to make sundaikkai vathal.

The situation has completely changed after I settled down at Chittaranjan. Beginning of this year just before the Pongal festival we made a visit to our native place in Tamil Nadu. We bought Sundaikkai in Uzhavar sandhai [ Farmers market ] and brought it to Chittaranjan. We usually split Sundaikkai by knife and put it in the water. This is being done to avoid discoloration of sundaikkai. Some seeds of the sundaikkai would come out of it and settle at the bottom of the vessel containing water. We normally transfer the split sundaikkai from the water into the kadai / cooking vessel and discard the water. I poured that water in my garden where I had planted green chilly. I saw tiny seedlings of Sundaikkai after three months. I sprinkled water regularly and allowed it to grow for a month. When we had rains in the month of April, I selected nearly fifteen sundaikkai plants from the nursery I have raised and planted it along the periphery of my garden just inside the fence.

The plants were growing well as we had rains on and off throughout this Summer. 

The flowers started appearing in some of the sundaikkai plants by the end of July. Tiny globules of Sundaikkai - Turkish berry - Pea Eggplant were seen by the first week of August.

 We were getting a steady supply of fresh tasty sundaikkai from the plants that was just enough for our daily consumption. Along with other vegetables I started adding sundaikkai in sambar, curry and kuzhambu. 

I started to get a large quantity of sundaikkai from 1st week of September onwards. Then I decided to make sundaikkai vathal, that is to dry the surplus sundaikkai in the Sun to preserve it. 

Normally sundaikkai vathal is prepared by soaking slit sundakkai in salted buttermilk for a day or two. Then the soaked sundaikkai is taken out from buttermilk and dried in the hot Sun during day time. Then in the evening semi dried sundaikkai is again put into the same vessel containing buttermilk and allowed to rest for whole night. Again the next day all the sundaikkai is taken out of the buttermilk and made to dry in the Sun. This process of drying and soaking goes on till all the buttermilk has been consumed. Then the sundaikkai is dried in the Sun till it is completely dehydrated and becomes brittle. It is a time consuming process and one needs patience to go through all the process to get a good quality vathal. It is also required to take extra care to keep all the things safe and secure from contamination by the insects, sand particles and dust. The vathal is being done with buttermilk and salt to equalize the bitterness.

I simply cut each sundakkai till halfway through and not split it into halves. Then put it on a plate to dry. One more reason for not adding salt is that sea salt isn't available where I am living now. The salt present in my kitchen is just enough for my regular consumption.

It takes approximately 3 to 4 days to dry split sundaikkai in the Sun on normal sunny days.

Ingredient :

Sundaikkai - Turkish Berry - Pea Eggplant

Method :

Wash sundaikkai in water.

Cut each sundaikkai [ Pea Eggplant ] till half way through.

Do not cut into two halves.

Put it on a plate.

Keep it in the Sun to dry till it becomes brittle.

It takes approximately 3 to 4 days to dry completely.

Store in an airtight bottle / container.

Sundaikkai vathal fried in hot fuming oil and then included in the preparation of vathakuzhambu.

Spicy and tasty chutney can be prepared from fried sundaikkai vathal. 

Health benefits of Sundaikkai - Turkish Berry - Pea Eggplant :

The size of the sundaikkai is tiny but it is packed with high quality protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

100 gm of Turkish berry contains 8.3 gm of Protein, 22.5 gm of Iron, 390 mg of Calcium, 180 mg of Phosphorous.

The high protein content in it, comprising essential amino acids, is good for heart health. It strengthens cardiac muscles which helps to maintain normal heartbeat and pulse.

The dietary fiber helps to tackle constipation and takes care of indigestion, diarrhoea and gastric ulcers.It is rich in Vitamin A and Vitamin B. It also has good amount of vitamin C. So it boosts the body's immunity and saves us from catching common cold, cough & the seasonal flu.

The minerals like Iron, Calcium, Sodium and Potassium are present in it.

Sundaikkai - Turkish berry is abundant in unique phytonutrients, such as sapogenin steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids,torvosides, glycosides, chlorogenins, tannins and phenols. These nutrients give it anti - inflammatory, anti microbial, anti oxidant, antidiuretic traits. It helps as a remedy to pancreatic ulcers, arthritis and gout.

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