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.

You might like to try

Sundaikkai Vatha Kuzhambu

Vazhaipoo [ banana blossom ] Kuzhambu

Sundaikkai [ Pea Eggplant ] Curry

Tomato bhindi curry

Beetroot-Tomato-Jam

#BeetrootTomatoJam : #Beetroot reminds me of my college days!! On Sundays, we were served toasted bread with #BeetrootJam for breakfast in our college hostel. We were able to change the breakfast menu for all the other days but not for the Sundays. It never changed till I finished my studies. The taste was very sweet but didn't have that punch. So I never asked for more or simply avoided it. I have never tried to prepare this particular jam at home at all.
Last week I bought fresh beetroots from market. After preparing Beetroot Halwa and still some more beetroots were leftover. The beetroot jam that we used to get in my hostel suddenly came to my mind. But I had to change its bland taste. So I tried to prepare beetroot jam with country tomato. The sour taste of country tomato gave a distinct taste and flavour to the jam. I have also added a dash of lemon juice to get extra punch to the jam.

Approximately get 300 ml of jam for 2 cups of beetroot tomato pulp mixture.
Preparation time : 20 min
Cooking Time : 20 - 25 min

Ingredients :
1 big size	Beetroot
3 or 4	Tomato
1 cup	Sugar
2 pinch	Salt
1 Tsp	Lemon juice

Method :

Wash and peel off the skin of the beetroot.

Chop into half inch cubes.

Put in a pressure cooker and add 1/2 cup of water.

Pressure cook for a whistle.

Open the cooker immediately and allow to cool down to room temperature.

Wash tomatoes and make a plus mark at the bottom of the tomatoes using a sharp knife.

Immerse in hot water for a minute.

Then peel off the skin and then blend to get puree.
Approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup of puree is enough.

Now blend the boiled beetroot in a blender and blend into a smooth liquid.

Take 1 1/2 cup of beetroot pulp and 1/2 to 3/4 cup of tomato puree in a heavy bottomed vessel.

Add sugar & salt and mix well.

Heat on a stove over medium fire and keep stirring on and off.

Slowly the mixture becomes thick and the color becomes very dark.

Take out a small amount of boiling mixture using a spoon or ladle and hold it over the cooking jam.

If drips down too quickly and watery then allow to boil some more time to get the required consistency.

Again take the boiling mixture using the ladle and do the same test, if mixture falls down as a thick sheet then the jam is ready.

At this stage add lemon juice and mix well.
Keep on fire for another half a minute.
Then turn off the stove.
Now tangy beetroot tomato jam is ready.

Now transfer the hot jam into the bottle/jar keeping on a wooden plank/cutting board.

Do not close the jar/bottle.

Allow to completely cool down to room temperature.
Then tightly close the bottle.

Thus the prepared jam can be stored for one week to 10 days without refrigeration.

It can be stored for a month or so under refrigeration.

Note : If the quantity of the blended beetroot pulp & tomato puree is more than the given amount then increase the amount of sugar accordingly.

Adding lemon juice at end is optional.






Other preserves you might like to try

nellikkai jam

honey nellikkai

nellikkai mittai

pickles n preserves

Tomato Jam [ microwave method ]

Ideas for other Dishes

Recipe Index

Tomato Jam

#TomatoJam : #Jam, common name for #FruitPreserves is prepared from fruit pulp and stored for long term use. Fruit pulp and sugar mixed together and cooked over slow fire to get tasty jam. Usually the fruit jams available in the market have added preservatives in it. The preservatives are harmful for our health. So it is advisable to prepare jam at home when plenty of fruits are available in the market.
Generally we get jams like pineapple jam, mango jam, strawberry jam, etc., or mixed fruit jam in stores. #Tomato jam is tangy in taste and goes well with bread and dosai, chappathy, poori as well. But we don't find tomato jam on the shelves of shop. So we have to prepare it at home only to enjoy its taste.
The recipe is very easy and we need only three ingredients.
The preparation time 10 minutes
cooking time 20 - 25 minutes
Approximately 300 ml can be made.

Ingredients :
2 cup	Tomato pulp [ juice ]
1 1/4 cup	Sugar
2 pinch	Salt

Method :

Before starting keep a dry and clean glass jar/bottle over a wooden cutting board to store the jam.

Wash tomatoes and remove eyes.

[ If needed remove the seed portion also.

 I haven't removed the seeds ]

Cut into pieces and put into a mixie jar.

Grind them to get the pulp.

Transfer the pulp into a wide mouthed heavy bottomed vessel.

Add sugar & salt and mix well.

Heat on a stove over low flame.

Keep stirring at regular interval.

Slowly the mixture thickens and color changes from dull red to deep red.

Take out a small amount of boiling mixture using a spoon or ladle and hold it over the cooking jam.

If drips down too quickly and watery then allow to boil some more time to get the required consistency.

Again take the boiling mixture using the ladle and do the same test, if mixture falls down as a thick sheet then the jam is ready.

Now transfer the hot jam into the bottle/jar keeping on a wooden plank/cutting board.

Do not close the jar/bottle.

Allow to completely cool down to room temperature.
Then tightly close the bottle.

Thus the prepared jam can be stored for one week to 10 days without refrigeration.

It can be stored for a month or so under refrigeration.

Enjoy tasty and yummy tomato jam!!

Other preserves you might like to try

nellikkai jam

honey nellikkai

nellikkai mittai

pickles n preserves

Tomato Jam [ microwave method ]

Preserves

Links to recipes of #Preserves like #jam, #pickle and #fryums [ #vathals ]

• Use the picture grid below to go to the posts of #vathal [ fryums ]
• Hover the cursor over image to know the name of the recipe
• Click on the image to take you to the recipe

Vathal [ Fryums ]
Vengaya Vathal [ Onion Fryums ]	Vengaya Vadavam [ Dried Shallots ]
Preserving Pudhina [ Dried Mint ]	Preserving Karuveppilai [ Dried Curry leaves ]
Preserving Rose petals [ Dried Rose petals ]	Sundaikkai Vathal [ Dried Pea eggplant/Turkish berry ]

• Use the picture grid below to go to the posts of #Jam
• Hover the cursor over image to know the name of the recipe
• Click on the image to take you to the recipe

Jam
Nellikkai Jam [ Amla Jam ]	Tomato Jam  - Microwave
Thakkali Jam [ Tomato Jam ]	Beetroot Tomato Jam

• Use the picture grid below to go to the posts of #SweetPreserves
• Hover the cursor over image to know the name of the recipe
• Click on the image to take you to the recipe

Sweet Preserves
Thaen Nellikkai [ Honey Amla ]	Nellikkai Mittai [ Amla Candy ]

Pickles

• Use the picture grid below to go to the posts of #Pickle
• Hover the cursor over image to know the name of the recipe
• Click on the image to take you to the recipe

Pickles
Avakkai Urugai - My style	Kothamalli Thokku
Nellikkai [ Amla ] Thokku	Thakkali [ tomato ] Thokku
Maangai  [ raw mango ] Thokku	Lemon in salt
Ginger pickle [ Inji thokku ]	Mango Ginger pickle [ Manga Inji urugai ]
Mixed Vegetable pickle [ Mixed vegetable urugai ]	Ponderosa Lemon pickle [ Citron urugai ]
Ponderosa Lemon puli pachadi [ Citron Tamarind Pachadi ]	Ponderosa Lemon [ Citron ] Pickle salted method
Lemon Pickle - Elumichai Urugai	Lemon Pickle vadu maanga style