Tengai sevai

Though a childhood favourite of mine, but I don't even remember the last time I had tengai sevai. So when I saw a packet of rice vermachilli at the grocery store, I picked it up before I could change my mind, and worried about not having a recipe for it only after I got back home. Google to the rescue- once I read two or three recipes, I knew exactly what I needed to do to get the taste I wanted, and the result lived up to nostalgia!

To digress a bit. Tengai sevai was a rarity when I was a child, because my mother used to make the rice noodles from scratch, and unless the proportions were just right, the thing could go horribly wrong. And then, she discovered rice vermachilli, and it ended up at the lunch table quite frequently. Once I left home, though, it never found its way to my plate- perhaps because nobody knew I even liked it. Here's to another childhood favourite, recreated.

1/2 cup rice vermachilli cooked according to instructions and drained
21/2 tbsp grated coconut
1 tbsp cashewnuts
Ghee for frying
Salt to taste

For tempering
Mustard seeds
Curry leaves
Red chilli, as desired
1/2 tsp urad dal

Roast the cashewnuts in ghee, and keep aside
In the same ghee, make the tempering, then add the grated coconut and stir on low heat for about a minute.
Turn off the flame, add the salt and cooked vermachilli, and mix well.
Serve garnished with cashewnuts.