Kothimbir Vadi (Steamed Coriander Cake)

I have always been used to regular staple meals. Ma is a wonderful cook and very experimental, but we always had proper meals - which had rotis, sabji, rice, dal and curd.
Snacks, especially the fried variety, were never a part of our everyday meal. On some occassions, like in the lovely Bangalore rainy weather, bhajiyas / pakodas were made...On more special occasions, we bought out the samosas and kachoris..

Mumbai has always been our snacky food paradise since my childhood. Frankies, vada pav and dabeli was always on the must-have list. In the last couple of years, kothimbir vadis were added to that list. These are steamed coriander and gram flour cakes, cut and fried crisp, available in many Maharashtrian restaurants and stores..They are absolutely delicious with some spicy chutney.



I had been saving up my stock of coriander leaves for a couple of days and decided on making one of my favourite - kothimbir vadi
I checked with Ma for her recipe, but hers needed the dal to be soaked and ground, and I wanted to make it right away...The next best place was to check Nupur's blog 'One Hot Stove'. I absolutely love her A-Z series of Maharastrian cooking...I knew this just had to be there, and sure enough, it was !!


Sending this to the Herbs and flowers in my platter event featuring Coriander this month. This event is the brainchild of PJ of Seduce Your Tastebuds

Here's a link to Nupur's kothimbir vadi. Mine has some minor variations

What you need -

2 cups of cleaned and chopped coriander leaves (I used all I had which came up to 1.5 cups)
1 cup gram flour / besan
1 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp wheat flour
2 tsp chopped chillies
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp sesame seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida/hing
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp goda masala / garam masala
1/2 tsp baking soda
salt to taste
3-4 tbsp oil for frying

What you do with it -

Mix in all the flours with the coriander leaves
Add the green chillies, ginger-garlic paste, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, lemon juice, chilli powder, goda masala, turmeric powder, asafoetida and salt to the flour
Add some water to make a thick batter. Mix well so its a smooth paste without lumps
Grease a flat vessel / dhokla plate and pour in the batter
Steam in a pressure cooker without the weight or in a steamer for about 15 minutes
Once its done, allot it to cool and then cut into diamond shaped pieces
You can deep fry the pieces in oil, till crisp. I heated 2 tbsp oil in a shallow pan and then put the pieces in. Fry on a low flame, turning the sides, till they brown well, adding about 1-2 tbsp more oil
Serve hot with chutney or ketchup