Summer is for Vadam

After a week of heavy rains, sunny days are here to stay now! We decided to make the most of the hot weather and made 'Vadam' !! My mom is visiting and has been wanting to make Vadams since the time she saw the deck in the backyard ! Now I'm sure everyone from India has some vadam/papad making memories. When I was growing up, every summer a week to 10 days would be dedicated to making an annual supply of Vadams; they'd be distributed to busy aunts, neighbours who don’t have the time to make their own. And some would also set up a barter system, making different kinds of vadams and exchanging a batch of one for another. It was always fun for the kids, we'd be asked to help around and guard the vadams from smart, clever crows and other birds, that'd swoop down at the right moment and grab a mouthful and fly away! Wonderful memories there..

I wonder if this tradition still continues. My mom tells me that she doesn’t make as much as she used to when we were growing up. I always get my annual supply from my mom or my mother-in-law. Unfortunately, I never learnt to make Vadams . Its on my ‘things to learn & try’ list. I just hope its not one of those dying art forms, where everyone is busy and nobody has the time to make a batch of Vadam from scratch.