Vendaikkai Vathal | Okra Fryums- Delicious fryums prepared by soaking the chopped okra in buttermilk and sun-dried until crisp.
I think I have posted quite a few Lassi recipes. :-) This is not a lassi recipe but another summer recipe following the concept of “Make Vadagams When the Sun Shines” – Lady’s Finger / Okra Fryums or Vendaikkai Vathal or Sun dried Okra. It’s a super simple recipe and this can be prepared in bulk and stocked up. These okra fryums can be used in Kuzhambu varieties or they can be fried and served as rice accompaniment. I personally love it with yogurt rice.
This is yet another recipe from my Amma’s kitchen. It is prepared by soaking the chopped okra in buttermilk for about 2 days and then sun-dried until crisp. Summer in the Bay area is always weird. It will super-hot between 11 am to 7 pm and then it becomes windy and cold at night. I am not complaining about the weather. I just love the weather (The real estate is skyrocketing because of this weather and tech companies).
When I used to prepare these vadagams in Folsom, within two days they will all be dried up. But here in Bay, it needs at least a week. That’s it, so no big complaints. ;-) This year’s vadagam season started with Karuvadagam and here is the second one. You can either go with store-bought buttermilk or beat the yogurt to preparing the buttermilk. Usually, we use the buttermilk churner to beat the yogurt.
Yogurt can also be used for soaking, but I followed my mother’s recipe and went with buttermilk. Diluted and toned buttermilk is also perfect for this recipe. So here are the super simple okra fryums, 
Ingredients required for vendaikkai vathal:
- Okra – around 50 ( I picked medium-sized tender okra)
- Salt – 1 tbsp
- Butter Milk – 3 cups
- Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp
- Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
- Oil, as required for frying
Prep – work:
- Wash the okra nicely and trim the ends. Chop the okra into medium-sized round pieces.
Steps:
- Take the buttermilk in a vessel with a lid.
- Add the salt, red chilly powder, and turmeric powder to the buttermilk and mix well. Make sure salt is all dissolved.
- Now add the chopped okra to the buttermilk solution. If required add more buttermilk. Make sure all the okras are properly soaked.
- Close the vessel and keep it in the fridge. Let it soak for about 2 days. Shake this okra mix once in between.
- After two days, drain the buttermilk and transfer the okra to a big plate or plastic sheet. (The okra will be sticky, but as it dries, it will become non-sticky)
- Let this okra dry under the hot sun until they are crisp and completely dried like below.
Notes:
- Instead of red chili powder, you can use sambar powder too.
- Make sure to shake the okra mix once when it is soaking.
That’s it. Store the vendaikkai vathal in an air-tight container and use them in vathal kuzhambu or puli kuzhambu. This can be fried and served as rice accompaniment too.
Frying:
- The vegetable-based fryums should be fried in low heat. Basically, what I do is, after frying appalam or other vadagams, I turn off the heat and then add the veggie vadagams like these okra ones. These get cooked faster.
- Fry them until they turn brown like below.
📖 Recipe
Vendaikkai Vathal | Okra Fryums
Ingredients
- 50 Okra I picked medium sized tender okra
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 3 cups Buttermilk
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 cup oil for frying
Instructions
Prep - work
- Wash the okra nicely and trim the ends. Chop the okra into medium-sized round pieces.
Steps
- Take the buttermilk in a vessel with a lid.
- Add the salt, red chili powder, and turmeric powder to the buttermilk and mix well. Make sure salt is all dissolved.
- Now, add the chopped okra to the buttermilk solution. If required add more buttermilk. Make sure all the okras are properly soaked.
- Close the vessel and keep it in fridge. Let it soak for about 2 days. Shake this okra mix once in between.
- After two days, drain the butter milk and transfer the okra in a big plate or plastic sheet. (The okra will be sticky but as it dries it will become non-sticky)
- Sun-dry the okra until they are crisp and completely dried like below.
Frying
- The vegetable-based fryums should be fried in low heat. Basically what I do is, after frying appalam or other vadagams, I turn off the heat and then add the veggie vadagams like this okra ones. These gets cooked faster.
- Fry them until they turn brown.
Notes
- Instead of red chili powder, you can use sambar powder too.
- Make sure to shake the okra mix once when it is soaking.
- That’s it. Store them in an air-tight container and use them in vathal kuzhambu or puli kuzhambu. This can be fried and served as rice accompaniment too.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
PS: If you try this vendaikkai vathal, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it ASAP. Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas! Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates! You can also sign-up for my newsletter for weekly updates.
Can we try this with overgrown (muthal) ladies finger?
Yes you can.
If the okras are not tender…… How will the Vathal turn out to be? Due to some reasons I plucked it late…
It will be chewy if you use it in kuzhambu but when you fry it should be ok.
Mam please make the video of these dry vegetable fryums…I used to love when my Chennai friend used to bring. I searched many videos in YouTube but all in Tamil and no English subtitles. Please make a video in English or either with English subtitles. My humble request!!
Mam please make the video of these dry vegetable fryums…I used to love when my Chennai friend used to bring. I searched many videos in YouTube but all in Tamil and no English subtitles. Please make a video in English or either with English subtitles. My humble request.
Sure. I will do ma.
I have never tried this at home. Looks so delicious!
Thanks a lot Kushi.
I guess you can have them just as is after frying? The buttery taste should still be good enough?
Oh yeah.. its a snack by itself. ;-)
This looks yum Vidya, on my bucket list
Thanks a lot Jayashree. I am so sorry I need to visit your blog. Its been long time. Will hop over soon.
Hi Vidhya
I’ve tried the store bought ones but never home made…will give this a go…thanks for sharing:)
My Grandma makes the same with chillies:)
Yup.. mor milagai or sandige mensinikai right? Do try this DD.. super simple.
I have never tried making these at home.. looks yumm especially with curd rice :)
These veggie based vadagams are super easy to prepare pa.. Thanks
There is no such thing as too much lassi, so keep’m coming! :) And these okra fryums are so new to me. I love fryums as a child, but never heard of okra ones. That means, I gotta give them a go pretty soon! :)
ha ha.. sure will post more lassi. Thanks a ton and please do try Anu.
This looks and sounds interesting! Delicious….Will be yummy with curd rice :)
Thanks a lot :-) Yes I love it with curd rice.