Masala vada recipe | Masal vadai recipe

   I rarely make masala vada as I was not confident making these. We, in our families make plain paruppu vadai in which we don’t add garlic, mint leaves or even fennel. Just make it in a different way. So when ever I cross any tea shops, the smell of these masal vadais will hook me. I will keep wondering what could be the factor. Once, one of my grandpa bought a masal vadai in Chidambaram. I loved it a lot. I was very young only around 12 or something, still remembering that vadai. It was as big as our palm size and had lots of onion and veggies too like carrot,peas. Superb vadais.
   Then after I started cooking only made few times,but the paruppu vadai veriosn. I asked one of my friend about the flavourful perfect masala vada recipe. She said, pudina(mint leaves) and crushed garlic and fennel does the magic. So tried few times that way and loved the flavour! So today I made it to blog the recipe. Vj doesn't like fennel so I reserved some batter for him without fennel :)

Masala vada recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian  |  Recipe Category: Snack
Prep Time: 3 Hours soaking time    |  Cook time: 20 mins    |  Makes: 20

Ingredients

Channa dal/kadalai paruppu - 1 cup

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Rice flour/Raw rice - 1 tblsp

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Onion - 1

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green chillies - 5

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Fennel/ soambu - 1 tsp

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Coriander, mint leaves, chopped - each 2 tblsp

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Salt - as needed

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Curry leaves - 1 sprig

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Ginger - 1 inch piece

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Garlic - 5-6 cloves

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Method

1. Soak channa dal for 3-4 hours. First grind ginger, garlic, chillies and fennel coarsely.

2. Then drain channa dal completely and add it in two batches and grind coarsely. Not too smooth not very coarse too. Refer picture. One or two channa dal can be whole.

3. Mix finely chopped onion, coriander and mint, salt, rice flour and curry leaves.

4. Keep a bowl with water and wet both hands. Make equal sized balls first for uniform sized vadas. Heat oil in kadai meanwhile. Shape each ball to flat patties of medium thickness.
   
5. Deep fry in hot oil until golden in colour,flipping once in between. Always cook in medium flame to ensure even cooking and golden colour. When you drop oil, heat should be high. Simmer after you drop all vadas and cook in medium flame until done. Drain in paper towel.

Notes

• If we dont soak for enough time, vada may turn hard and too crisp.
• Rice flour or sooji is to make crisp. Its optional too. If using rice, soak along with dal.
• You can also replace ginger and garlic with Ginger garlic paste.
• Grinding ginger and garlic coarsely adds a kind of flavour.
• You can even add a 3/4 tsp of garam masala.
• If you dont like garlic you can omit and add asafoetida 1/4 tsp.
• No need to add water while grinding.
• Red chillies can be replaced for green chillies.

Serve hot with tea/coffee and spicy mint or coconut chutney as side dish for vada …