Dal Vada, South Indian Chana Dal Vada, Masala Vada
by Tarla Dalal
dal vada recipe | chana dal vada | South Indian dal vada | paruppu vadai | with 25 amazing images
You will love the exciting crispness of these delectable dal vadas. Made with a coarse paste of soaked chana dal perked up with onions, ginger paste and the whole traditional team of flavour enhancers and deep fried, these South Indian dal vadas have a unique, rustic texture and warm, hearty flavour that will strike a chord with most people.
I would like to share some important tips to make chana dal vada. 1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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.
These deep fried dal vadas are sure to satiate you in a tasteful way, have them for Evening Tea Snacks accompained with Green Chutney or Tomato Coconut Chutney.
Enjoy dal vada recipe | chana dal vada | South Indian dal vada | paruppu vadai | with step by step photos below.
Dal Vada, South Indian Chana Dal Vada, Masala Vada recipe - How to make Dal Vada, South Indian Chana Dal Vada, Masala Vada
Soaking time: 2 hours Preparation Time: Cooking Time: Total Time:
Makes 17 vadas
For Dal Vada
1 cup chana dal (split bengal gram)
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 tsp ginger (adrak) paste
2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania)
1 tbsp chopped curry leaves (kadi patta)
2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
salt to taste
oil for deep-frying
For Serving With Dal Vada
green chutney
For dal vada
- For dal vada
- To make {span class="bold1"}dal vadas{/span}, clean, wash and soak the chana dal in a deep bowl in enough water for 2 hours. Drain well.
- Remove ¼ cup of soaked and drained chana dal in a bowl and keep aside.
- Blend the remaining chana dal in a mixer to a coarse mixture without using any water.
- Transfer the mixture into a deep bowl, add all the remaining ingredients, including the soaked and drained chana dal and mix well.
- Divide the mixture into 17 equal portions and shape each portion into 50 mm. (2”) diameter round flat vada.
- Heat the oil in a deep non-stick kadhai and deep-fry, a few {span class="bold1"}dal vadas{/span} at a time on a medium flame, till they turn golden brown in colour from all the sides. Drain on an absorbent paper.
- Serve the {span class="bold1"}dal vada{/span} immediately with green chutney.
Dal Vada Video by Tarla Dalal
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- 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
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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.
For frying the chana dal vada
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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
Tips for chana dal vada
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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.
-
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.
| Energy | 91 cal |
| Protein | 2.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 6.2 g |
| Fiber | 1.5 g |
| Fat | 6.4 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Vitamin A | 89.8 mcg |
| Vitamin B1 | 0 mg |
| Vitamin B2 | 0 mg |
| Vitamin B3 | 0.2 mg |
| Vitamin C | 1 mg |
| Folic Acid | 14.5 mcg |
| Calcium | 7.9 mg |
| Iron | 0.5 mg |
| Magnesium | 0 mg |
| Phosphorus | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 7.4 mg |
| Potassium | 75.3 mg |
| Zinc | 0.2 mg |
Amazing recipe! enjoyed these wadas Soo much more than restaurant-ones :) thank you for your recipes
awesome!!!!!!! yummy
This is one of my favourites,. Alwayas have this on th eroadside stalls along with idli and medu vada. So i thought why not to try a homemade version. It was just superb. the crunch, coarsely crushed chana dal taste just like the ones we get outside..
I made this recipe and it tastes just like the vada we get roadside.... perfect combination of dal to spices and onions...superb recipe.... I served it with http://www.tarladalal.com/Green-Chutney--(--Faraal-Recipe)-hindi-32560r
The outer covering is so crispy and crunchy..and soft from inside. These dal vadas are so tempting.. you cannot stop with just one. This is a must try vadas, and best as a evening snack.