Salem Thattuvadai Set

 

There are so many triggers for nostalgia and to me food definitely comes up in the top few. There was this street snack I used to enjoy as a high school kid usually after a tuition class or a weekend trip to the "shopping complex".  The Salem famous Thattuvadai Set. This such a simple yet tasty and healthy thattai sandwich. A thattuvadai or thattai is a thin crispy  deep fried snack made with rice flour and urad flour. This is also known as nippattu or chekkalu in neighbouring states. This healthy sandwich involves 2 chutneys (red and green) and a some crispy vegetables. I was never a big fan of beetroot and that too raw....no way. However just in this one instance even raw beetroot tastes great. This was one snack which I haven't tried (does 30 years count as long?) a long time. Fast forward to last week I found these yummy crispy thattais made by one of my friends here. So without further ado here comes the recipe.

Ingredients

Red Chutney

1. Dried Kashmiri chillies - 3 to 4 (for the colour)
2. Dried red chillies - 2 to 3 (for the heat)
3. Sliced Red onions - 1
4. Garlic cloves - 4 to 5
5. Tamarind (softened) - 1 teaspoon
6. Tomato - 2
7. Salt to taste
8. Vegetable oil

Green Chutney

1. Coriander leaves - 1 cup
2. Mint leaves - 1/2 cup
3. Green chillies - 8-10
4. Grated coconut - 2 table spoons
5. Salt to taste
6. Ginger - 1 inch

Salad

1. Carrot
2. Beetroot
3. Onion
4. Green Apple (this was my twist - raw mango is used typically)
5. Lemon
6. Chopped Coriander leaves 

And of course a lot of thattais. Preferably the bite sized mini ones.

Method

Red Chutney

1. Blend all the ingredients of the red chutney together to a smooth paste.
2. In a wide sauce pan heat 2 to 3 table spoons of vegetable oil and saute the paste for a few minutes until oil separates.

Green Chutney

1. Blend all the ingredients of the green chutney. (Yup nothing more just blend).

Salad

1. Slice the onion into thin slices.
2. Slice the remaining vegetables in equal amounts.
3. Mix them up in a bowl.

The Set

1. Take a thattai and smear it with the green chutney. Repeat as many as needed.
2. Place the salad on the thattais and sprinkle lemon juice over along with chopped coriander leaves.
3. Take thattais and smear it with the red chutney and place on top of the salad.

Best served on a piece of newspaper to get the authentic feel and consumed as quickly as possible.

Enjoy!!

C