Dal Vada, South Indian Chana Dal Vada, Masala Vada recipe with step by step photos
Like Dal Vada-
Like dal vada recipe | chana dal vada | South Indian dal vada | paruppu vadai, then see our collection of South Indian vada recipes.
For the Dal Vada mixture-
To prepare the mixture for chana dal vada, pick and clean 1 cup of chana dal.
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Wash the dal in a bowl several times or under running water and transfer to a bowl.
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Pour enough clean water and soak the chana dal for 2 hours. Do not over soak the chana dal or else the dal vadas won’t turn out crunchy on frying.
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After two hours, open the lid and drain well.
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Remove ¼ cup of soaked and drained chana dal in a bowl and keep aside.
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Transfer the remaining chana dal in a mixer.
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Blend the chana dal to a coarse mixture without using any water. If required, once in between you can scrape the sides of the mixer jar and grind the mixture again. Try not to add water, as you will face difficulty in shaping the dal vada at a later stage. But if it is getting too problematic to grind, then add 1-2 tbsp of water.
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Transfer the mixture into a deep bowl.
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Add all the remaining ingredients starting with onions.
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Next, add ginger paste. If you like the mouthfeel of adrak, then you can also use finely chopped ginger.
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Add chopped coriander. They provide a vibrant green colour to the dal vada mixture. You can even toss in other green leafy vegetables like spinach, dill or mint to make the South-Indian chana dal vadai flavourful.
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Add curry leaves as South-Indian crisp dal vada are incomplete without these kadi patta.
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Add 2 tsp of chilli powder. For a spicier version, add green chilli paste.
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Add 1/2 tsp asafoetida because chana dal is heavy to digest and hing aids in digestion.
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Add turmeric powder.
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Finally, add salt to taste.
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Also, add the soaked and drained chana dal.
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Mix everything well and our paruppu vadai mixture is ready. Mixture should not be very moist or dry. If the mixture is too crumbly or too pasty then it would be difficult to make vadas from this mixture. If the mixture has turned crumbly, then grind it once again and if the mixture has turned pasty then add 1-2 tbsp of rice flour or besan to bind together all the ingredients. At this stage, you can taste the mixture and make the necessary changes in the flavour as per your liking.
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For frying the chana dal vada-
For making crisp dal vada recipe | chana dal vada | South Indian dal vada | paruppu vadai, divide the masala vada mixture into 17 equal portions. Shape each portion into a round ball.
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Flatten the ball between your palms to make a 50 mm. (2”) diameter round flat vada. The vada must be slightly thin because if you make thick vadas , they will turn fluffy in the center and not taste as good.
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Flatten all the 17 portions of dal vada and place them on a plate or plastic sheet, banana leaf and keep ready before you start frying.
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Heat the oil in a deep non-stick kadhai and slide 3-4 dal vada carefully. The number of vada will depend upon the size of your kadhai and vadas. Also, before dropping the dalwada, check the temperature of oil by dropping a small portion of the chana dal mixture. If it comes up quickly, the oil is too hot and this would brown the dal vada quickly and they would still be raw from inside. If it takes a lot of time, the oil is not hot enough and this would make the dal vada absorb a lot of oil. Deep-fry them on a medium flame till they turn golden brown in colour from one side. With the help of a slotted spoon flip them and fry till they are golden brown and crisp on all sides.
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Drain the chana dal vada on an absorbent paper.
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Similarly, fry all the parippu vada from the remaining mixture.
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Serve the dal vada immediately with green chutney. Our has many more authentic South-Indian vada recipe which can be enjoyed as evening snacks or breakfast like: Keerai Vadai, Cabbage Vada, Masala Vadas
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Tips for chana dal vada-
Blend the chana dal to a coarse mixture without using any water. If required, once in between you can scrape the sides of the mixer jar and grind the mixture again. Try not to add water, as you will face difficulty in shaping the dal vada at a later stage. But if it is getting too problematic to grind, then add 1-2 tbsp of water.
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Mix everything well and our paruppu vadai mixture is ready. Mixture should not be very moist or dry. If the mixture is too crumbly or too pasty then it would be difficult to make vadas from this mixture. If the mixture has turned crumbly, then grind it once again and if the mixture has turned pasty then add 1-2 tbsp of rice flour or besan to bind together all the ingredients. At this stage, you can taste the mixture and make the necessary changes in the flavour as per your liking.
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Take care to deep-fry these South Indian dal vadas on a medium flame. Otherwise, they will quickly turn brown outside before they get cooked inside.
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