Beach sundal gravy is an amazing street food of Tamilnadu, India. Though there are n number dry sundals we make at home my heart always ask for this street food sundal gravy. If you are traveling Chennai this is one of the must-try street food in marina beach which is one of world’s longest beach. Marina beach is the best tourist attraction, be it a national holiday or not you will find this beach always filled with people and there are street food vendors who always make hot piping food. My mouth is salivating writing this be it molaga bhaji, raw mango sprinkled with salt and red chilli pd, Corn, Hot peanuts sundal, thengai magai sundal, beach sundal are few of the street foods you can find. Today am here to share with one such very famous street food from Chennai which is beach sundal kozhambu or beach sundal gravy. These are technically not only found in the beach’s but found all over Chennai were small vendors sell these sundal, bhajis and vadas for an evening snack. These are made with white peas / white pattani, they are perfect to indulge on a rainy day with some masal vada crushed on them and some onions sprinkled over.
This is called beach sundal because they are most popular beach snack. As a chennaite, I have tasted these sundals with masala vada a lot of times. A vendor who was a family friend used to make this sundal on the same street I lived, they always made sure to crush some masala vada , Sprinkle some onions , coriander leaves and ompodi over this yummy gravy. Whenever we felt hungry in the evening my mom used to allow us to do takeout this yummy sundal which was just 10 Rs for 2 servings and we would relish them at home . On a rainy day, it is a wonderful scene to watch those steam flying away from the hot plate of sundal on the stove, in the tea stall some hot vadas are being fried , and the mesmerizing way the tea master pours the tea from one glass to other .. I enjoy all the little things happening on a rainy day, in this busy world we forget to enjoy those little things. Me, my lil one and hubby make sure whenever it rains we sit on our patio and enjoy the rain thoroughly. Coming back to the recipe I tried to make these pattani sundal my way and they tasted delicious with that masala vadai. I have a masal vadai already posted and here is the Pattani sundal recipe..I am doing A-Z series for the mega-marathon this month. So for my Letter B I landed on to my home state Tamilnadu.
Do checkout my yesterdays post too where I posted My Letter A.
A for Andhra Lunch Menu and A for Alasanda Vada
B for Beach Sundal Gravy
Ingredients
Dried white peas / Pattani – 1 cup
Tomato – 1 no Medium (hopped)
Onion – 1 no Medium(chopped)
Ginger garlic green chillies paste – 1 tbsp
Red chilli pd – 1 tsp
Turmeric pd – 1/4 tsp
Coriander pd – 1/2 tsp
Garam masala – 1/2 tsp
Fennel powder – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
For Topping
Masala Vada (Recipe here)
Chopped Onions and Grated carrots
Chopped Coriander leaves
Ompodi
Method
- Soak the white pea in water overnight or 5-6 hours.
- You can either boil them in water or pressure cook them for 2 whistles.
After the pressure releases drain the cooked peas . - Grind onion and tomatoes in a mixture. and transfer them to a bowl.
In a saucepan heat oil add the GGG paste saute them well. - Add the onion tomato paste and saute them too till the raw smell goes off.
- Add the red chilli pd , turmeric pd, coriander pd, garam masala, fennel pd and mix them well.
Cook the gravy till the oil separates and raw smell of the masala goes off. - Add 1/2 of the cooked peas and some water to make the gravy thin.
- Let the gravy boil and combine well, add the remaining sundal and cook them for some more minutes till the consistency is slightly thick. This sundal is usually kept watery as it thickens up as it cools.
- Add some chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
- While plating don’t forget to crush some crispy vadas on the sundal gravy , some chopped onions, some coriander leaves and ompodi.
- Dried white peas / Pattani - 1 cup
- Tomato - 1 no Medium (hopped)
- Onion - 1 no Medium(chopped)
- Ginger garlic green chillies paste - 1 tbsp
- Red chilli pd - 1 tsp
- Turmeric pd - ¼ tsp
- Coriander pd - ½ tsp
- Garam masala - ½ tsp
- Fennel powder - ½ tsp
- Oil - 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Masala Vadai
- Chopped Onions and Grated Carrots
- Chopped Coriander leaves
- Ompodi
- Soak White peas/ Pattani overnight or for 5 to 6 hours.
- Drain the water and pressure cook them for 2 whistles.
- Grind onion and tomato to a smooth paste.
- In a saucepan heat oil add GGG paste and saute them well.
- Add the onion tomato paste and saute them for few minutes.
- Add Red chillipd, turmeric pd, coriander pd, garam masala, fennel pd and stir them well.
- Cook the gravy till the raw smell goes off and the oil separates.
- Add half the cooked pattani/ white peas Mix them well and add some water to make the gravy thin.
- Let the sundal boil well and add the rest of the sundal to the gravy.
- Add salt and boil the gravy well. The longer it boils it taste delicious.
- To plate in serve the sundal with some crushed masala vadai topped and some coriander and onion sprinkle over.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 87
Strange I have visited Chennai three four times and no body has ever made me taste this street food ! I need to ask my daughter and my friends ., why man ?
It sounds like a cousin of ragda Pattice , seriously ! The dish looks absolutely fantastic and your description and pictures are tempting me ! Awesome presentation !
The beach sundal looks and sounds like a different version of ghugni or ragda. Love the entire setup and the combination of masala vadai sounds super tempting. My mouth is watering looking at the pictures.
Such a delicious street food Manjula! I lived in chennai for 3 months but never once did I hear / see this dish. The next time I visit chennai I am going to look for it. Beautiful presentation as always 🙂
Beautifully presented and beautifully written post Manjula. You literally took me to Marina beach with this. That Sundal looks so inviting and I can imagine how delicious it would taste with that vada — yumm, yumm!!
I had heard of the beach Sundal but not the gravy version .. this looks fantastic !!
Beautifully done dear and it remind me of our very own marina beach and college days..Nostalgic me 😀
Omg, my mouth is just watering here.. Kadavule you are torturing me with this alluring sundal with vada manju. Yen ippadi panura nee. Where can i get this sundal gravy with vada rite now. Tooooooo tempting.
Lipsmacking goodness there… Love these white pattani sundal and that fennel powder adds all that magic. Rs 10 ku 2 servings… wow dunno if we can even get 1 serving for that price. sighhhh…. Your write up made me all nostalgic… beach memories are always best.
That is a fantastic write up, Manjula. What you said is absolutely right, that we forget to enjoy the little things in life. platter of sundal topped with masala vada
You know what that i have been searching for this recipe for a while, hubby told me that he tasted this street food back in chennai for long time ago and explained to me that it has white pattani gravy with roughly crumbled vada, since he couldn’t remember the name , i was searching in the name like masala sundal , vada with gravy n all. Glad you shared it and i’m going to make this as surprise for him. It looks so good and delicious!!!
I absolutely want this right now! This is a torture seeing your pictures and not able to grab some from the screen. I so remeber those beautiful college days when we friends use to eat from each and every vendor on the streets. This is a great choice for the alphabet!
I haven’t come across this in Marina, but I have visited Marina only once. Next time I go there, I will search for a vendor to try this amazing sundal. Loved reading about the rainy day scenario. It has become so rare for anyone to enjoy such pleasures. Your snaps are awesome Manjula.
ohh semme!!! totally drooling looking at your pictures and i can literally smell that sundal gravy here!!! Every year going to marina and eating bhajji is a ritual i never miss!! This post is making me long for this now!!!
Sundal recipe looks fabulous and flavorfull.. pictures also come out so well.
Wow seriously reading about this for the first time Manjula..imagine I have lived all my life here..not that I regular beach so much..still I am amazed and shocked that I am yet to know of this sinful dish…will surely check it out and make it myself..the pictures are stunning girl as always!
I didn’t know about this dish either. Sundal and vadai together must taste heavenly.
35 years back when I travel between Chengalpattu to Egmore by train for college and later to attend my job, I chose to get down at Guindy railway station(race course side) to eat this Sundal with crumbled masal vadai on top of it, onion, kothamalli garnish separately
Tomorrow I invited few friends and looked out for recipe. I am lucky I found this. Pretty much whats in my mind. But the sequence is important. I am going to cook it Tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.
Wow thats some nostalgic memories . Hope you made the dish and came out as expected !! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful story !!