Masala Vadai

Masala vadai is an easy to make appetizer/snack. "Vadai" is one of the dishes made during festivals in South India to offer to god. "Ulunthu vadai" (made from Urad Dhall), is made in such occasions. I am not a great fan of the Ulundhu Vadai. I always prefer masala vadai to it, and yesterday(being Pongal) was an excuse to make it!

My recipe for the masala vadai includes all types of lentils, hence it's probably not the authentic/traditional version.

Ingredients

Toor Dhall (thuvaram paruppu)- 1/2 cup
Channa Dhall (kadala paruppu)- 1/4 cup
Urad Dhall (ulutham paruppu)- 1/4 cup
Moong Dhall (payatham paruppu)- 1/4 cup
Red Chillies (kaintha chaeppu milagai)- 6-8
Curry leaves (karuvepillai)- 10 leaves chopped finely
Cilantro (kothamalli)- 10 leaves torn to small pieces
Green Chillies (pachai milagai)- 3-4 chopped finely
Onion (vengayam)- 1 cup chopped
Asoefoeteida powder (perungaya podi)- 1/4 teaspoon
Salt (uppu) - 1/2 teaspoon ( add to taste)
Vegetable/Canola Oil (ennai)- 1.5-2 cups for frying

Soak toor dhall, channa dhall, urad dhall, moong dhall in water for about an hour.
Drain off the water and coarse grind the dhalls with the red chillies.
Add as little water as needed while grinding.

Now add the chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves, cilantro, asoefoeteida, salt to the ground ingredients and mix well.

Heat oil in a frying pan or deep fryer. Test if the oil is hot enough by putting a small dime size ball of the mixture. If it floats up immediately, the oil is hot enough. Take a golf ball size of the mixture and press it on the palm to make a flat circle of about 2 cms radius and 1 cm thickness. Slowly drop/slide it in the oil and fry it. Leave each side on for few minutes till its turned nice brown in color on both sides. Remove and place it on a tissue paper to drain the oil.



Serve with tea/coffee and optionally a dipping sauce like mint chutney would also be good!



Serving size: 20-25 vadais

On an off note, I found this interesting article from 2004 about how Indian menu has changed over the years. Here is the link http://www.hinduonnet.com/seta/2004/10/21/stories/2004102100111600.htm

Baked Version

1) Preheat the oven to 400 F.

2) Take a baking pan or a muffin pan and coat the pan with little oil

3) Take the ground Vadai mix and add 2-3 tbsp of oil and mix it well

4) Spoon out the mix onto the baking pan with enough space between each

5) Once the oven has reached 400F, place the baking pan in it for about 10-15 minutes.

The Vadai mix should turn golden brown and crisp on one side

6) Take out the pan and flip the Vadais and place in the oven again for another 10-15 minutes.

7) Remove from the oven and let it cool down for a bit

I tried the baked version for Bhogi yesterday (Jan 13 2010) .The baked version tasted pretty good. And since there was not much oil/deep frying involved, we munched on it guilt-free :)