CHENNAI: Vathal, vadam, and appalam preparation is an annual ritual in every south Indian household. It’s that time of the year when the dough for the fryums is prepared and spread on white cotton cloth, dried under direct sunlight on the terrace until they become crispy. A stone or two are placed on the corners of the cloth. Women have an added duty to chase the crows away from disturbing the arrangement.
“I used to live in Tiruchi 20 years back. All the ladies used to assemble after the family leaves for work. We used to make a fine powder of urad dal in a thirugai because in those days we did not have grinder or mixer. Alongside, creepers of pirandai would be gently shown in the fire. After which, the juice would be squeezed out and added in the making process. The creeper acts as a preservative and has health benefits. After adding salt and hing, the whole mix would be made in to a dough with sprinkles of water. Small balls would be made into a circular shape with rolling pins. However, it’s a time-consuming process. Consistency and the right amount of sunlight matters. It cannot be left to dry for too long. This is the reason we hardly see people making appalam these days,” said T Santha, a resident of Mylapore.
Valarmathy Velu, a resident of Korattur, has been making fryums for 10 years. She makes all kinds of vathal and vadams — onion, sundaka, sago, ladies’ finger, cluster bean, eggplant, turkey berry and more. “Earlier we used to live in joint families where every person used to participate in the making process. We had large courtyards where the fryums were left to dry. White cloth filled with fryums could be found across streets in the neighborhood. Kids used to enjoy these activities during vacations. Nowadays, everybody wants to buy from outside. What was once traditionally done in the village is sold in the name of organic in commercial stores and sold at twice the price. It’s easy for us to differentiate the quality. Those days, grandmothers prepared fryums in large quantities and distributed it among family members. I do the same for my daughter,” she said.
Earlier, vadam and vathal were not only served as crunchy accompaniment for meals but also as snacks to serve guests. Considering seasonal vegetables were limited, women of the house made vathal from all vegetables and stocked them up for the longer monsoon days. Vathal and pickle played an integral part in the diet patterns of many households. They’d never get spoiled.
The ingredients are simple — buttermilk, salt, chilli, cumin seeds and hing. Leftover boiled or soaked rice is ground into a fine paste. After fermentation with buttermilk, it is seasoned with spices. Another way of preparing is to stir raw rice flour along with hot water without lumps. This also gives a fine and thick paste. Either way, the consistency depends on the desired shape. The dough has to be thick for spiral and ribbon-shaped vathal. It has to be watery for regular vathal. The final mix or dough is left to dry.
“Vathal is that which is made out of dried vegetables and added to sambar or vathal kuzhambu. Vadam, on the other hand, is made from a paste out of rice or sago,” said Vyjayanthi, a resident of Aminjikarai, who has prepared a set of colour vathal, chilli vathal and lady’s finger. Although the rise of supermarket products has taken over our consumption, traditional vathal and vadams continue to stay relevant and find the likes of this generation.