Vadai

Vadai is a popular South Indian snack. The secret behind making this Vadai lies in grinding the Paruppu / Dhal to a very fluffy consistency in a wet grinder. The mixer will not do justice to this recipe.

Amma taught me to grind the batter by sprinkling water few times during the process of grinding and few other tips…although I sincerely followed her lessons, I could not make good vadai`s until I got this recipe from our friend`s Uncle at Dimbum, Tamilnadu. His secret was adding the rice powder for crispiness . He made them for breakfast when we visited our friend’s vacation home in Dimbum. The batter was ground using the Attukkallu, therefore, it was crisper on the outside soft and fluffy inside.
I finally found a secret to make excellent Vadais after wondering for long time about how only Udipi hotels made them to so much perfection.

I have sincerely tried to pass the recipe to you with the only variation being the wet grinder since we have come too far to go back to the Attukkallu.

List of ingredients:

1. 1 cup ulutham paruppu/urid dal/black gram
2. 4 tablespoon rice
3. 2 teaspoon chopped green chillies
4. 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds powder
5. 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida
6. 1 teaspoon salt

Cooking procedure:

1. Soak the paruppu/dal in water for 30 to 45 minutes.
2. Wash rice and drain the water and let it soak in the washed moisture for ½ an hour . Dry grind the rice and keep aside.
3. Grind the Paruppu/dal along with green chillies, asafoetida, cumin powder and salt in wet grinder adding a tablespoon of water now and then( approx 1/2 cup ) .The batter should be fluffy. This should take about 45 mts.
   
   
   
   
4. Transfer the batter to a vessel and add the rice powder just before making the Vadai.
5. Wet your palms,take a ball of the above batter and make vadai shapes as shown in the picture and deep fry in oil. This comes with practice or you can shape the vadais on a banana leaf or a thick plastic sheet and deep fry them in oil.

Serve vadai with sambar or coconut chutney.

TIPS: Chopped onions, curry leaves and coriander leaves can be added to the batter.
Take utmost care - batter should not be watery and at the same time it should not be very hard and thick.
Slowly drop one vadi in the oil when hot, it should float as soon as it is dropped otherwise the oil is not hot enough. Also, if it turns brown immediately the oil is too hot. Therefore adjust the heat accordingly.
One cup of paruppu/Dhal makes around 25 vadais with the size shown in the pic.