Dal Vada, a crispy and savory deep fried fritter made from chana dal and Indian spices, is a popular street food of South Indian cuisine. Also known as Parippu Vada or Masala Vada.
Ingredients:
For Dal Vada
· Split Bengal Gram (chana dal) - 1 cup (Soaked)
· Onion - 2 medium sized (chopped)
· Green chilli - 4-5 (your preference)
· Ginger - 2 inch
· Cumin seeds -1 tsp (roughly crushed)
· Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp (roughly crushed)
· Fresh Coriander leaves – ¼ cup
· Curry leaves – 2 tbsp (chopped)
· Grated Coconut – ½ cup
· Rava - 2 tbsp
· Salt
· Oil for frying
For Coconut Chutney
· Freshly grated coconut – 1 cup
· Oil – 1 tsp
· Green chillies – 4-5 (roughly chopped) Adjust as per your preference
· Udid dal – 1 tsp
· Roasted chana dal - 1 tbsp
· Asafoetida (Hing) – ¼ tsp
· Tamarind – 2 small pieces (adjust according to the chillies)
· Salt
· Water
For Tempering the chutney (Optional)
· Oil/Coconut oil – 1.5 tsp
· Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
· Red chillies – 1-2 (roughly broken)
· Asafoetida (Hing) – ¼ tsp
· Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Method:
For Dal Vada
· Wash and soak the chana dal for 2-3 hours in water.
· Take roughly about 2 spoonsful of soaked chana dal separately and keep it aside.
· In a mixer jar, add soaked chana dal, green chillies, ginger and grind it all together coarsely. Remember not to add water while grinding.
· Transfer the coarsely ground chana dal mixture to a bowl and to it add, kept aside chana dal, onion, crushed cumin seeds, crushed coriander seeds, curry leaves, coriander leaves, grated coconut and finally add rava. Mix well.
· Take the vada mixture on a palm and make vadas by flattening it a little.
· Heat the oil and fry the vadas on medium high flame until crisp and golden brown in colour.
· Serve the vadas hot and crispy with sauce or coconut chutney of your choice.
For Coconut Chutney
· Heat a pan with little oil in it, add green chillies, asafoetida and udid dal. Fry till it turns slightly brown in colour. Keep the flame on medium heat and add roasted chana dal.
· Now add the grated coconut and fry for 1-2 minutes.
· Once cooled add the above mixture in the mixer jar along with tamarind pieces and salt.
· Grind with little water. Don’t make a fine paste, grind it a little coarse.
· Now pour the chutney in a serving bowl.
· Take a tadka pan with little oil in it, add mustard seeds and broken red chillies, let the seeds crackle. Add asafoetida and curry leaves, sauté for 1-2 minutes. Turn off the flame and pour the tempering on the chutney. Mix it well before serving.
(Tempering is completely optional)
