Masala Vadai (Bengal gram dal vadai)/ Chana dal Vadai

in Snacks

Recipe from Cook and See Part – 3

Ingredients

  • Bengal gram dal or chana dal 2 cups (heaped ),
  • Onion 3 med sized chopped fine,
  • Green Chillies  8 to 12 , finely chopped,
  • Curry leaves few,
  • Coriander leaves  chopped fine, half cup
  • Salt 2 teaspoon or more if required,
  • Ginger 1 teaspoon grated,
  • Garlic 3 pods chopped fine (optional),
  • Anise seeds ½ to 1 teaspoon powdered (optional),
  • Broken cashew nuts 10 to 12 (optional),
  • Oil for deep frying. 1 litre

Method

  1. Soak the bengal gram dal for one and half hours .  Drain. Grind it ,( sprinkling water now and then, while grinding). to make a coarse batter. It should be rough and firm.
  2. Add rest of the  ingredients, one by one and mix well.
  3. Heat oil in thick bottomed deep pan / kadai . Check if its ready, (check by dropping little of the batter, if it sizzles and comes up, its ready.
  4. Take  a little of the batter,( big lemon sized) in the palm one hand,  flatten it with fingers  of the other palm into circular shape ,  and slide into the oil.
  5. Deep fry in medium heat  till golden brown. Drain and transfer to a plate .
  6.  Yummy hot vadais are ready to be eaten  with chutney.
  7. Relish with a  cup of tea.
  8. Ccold pressed  oil  is preferred, for deep frying . If not ,use refined or other oil of your choice.
  9.  You  can deep fry four to five vadais at a time but not more than that , as the oil wont be sufficient  and the vadais wont be well cooked .

Note

  1. You could add garammasala to the batter to give a different flavour to the vadai.
  2. If asafoetida is used, do not add garlic.
  3. Add red chilies if you don’t have sufficient amount of green chillies, the red chillies can be ground with the batter.
  4. The amount of spice and amount of salt etc is entirely upto your tastebuds and preferences. If you want a spicy vadai ,add more green chilies.
  5. If adding anise seeds(whole) add It while grinding the batter.
  6. A powder of the following spices can be added to the masala vadai batter. Powder cloves 2, cardamom 2 , anise seeds and poopy seeds (One fourth teaspoon each) and half an inch cinnamon . This powder will enhance the taste of the masala vadai.
  7. Add a bit of tamarind to hot oil , and fry and then remove ,so that the  oil doesn’t foam while deep frying .