Masala Vadai is a traditional and common south Indian snack that is served with tea or coffee. This Vadai is made with Bengal gram dhal and onion.
To prepare it, first soak the dhal in water for 3 to 4 hours and then drain it. Set aside a handful of the soaked dhal and grind the rest with sombu (fennel seeds) and salt into a coarse paste without adding water. Next, chop onions, green chillies, ginger, and curry leaves, then mix these with the ground dhal, whole soaked dhal, and some grated coconut. Heat oil in a frying pan, form lemon-sized balls of the mixture, and flatten them slightly before frying in the hot oil until golden brown. Enjoy this crispy and flavorful treat as a snack or appetizer!
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Masala Vadai Recipe
Masala Vadai
20
servings4
hours30
minutesA traditional and common south Indian snack that is served with tea or coffee. This Vadai is made with Bengal gram dhal and onion.
Ingredients
Bengal gram dhal – 2 cups
Onion – 1
Green Chillies – 3 to 4
Fresh ginger – a small piece
Curry leaves – few
Coconut gratings – 1 tablespoon (optional)
Anise (Sombu) – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon or as per taste
Oil – for deep frying
Directions
- Soak the dhal in water for 3 to 4 hours. Drain the water completely.
- Take out a handful of soaked dhal and keep separately. Grind (Use whip mode for grinding) the remaining dhal along with sombu, and salt to a coarse paste. No need to add water.
- Chop onion, green chillies, ginger and curry leaves. Mix all these with dhal along with whole soaked dhal and coconut.
- Heat oil in a frying pan. Take a lemon size ball and keep it in your left palm and gently press with your right palm. Put it in the hot oil and fry till it turns golden brown.
Notes
- If you do not like Sombu, then omit it and add a pinch of asafoetida. Also add a red chilli while grinding the dhal or add half teaspoon red chilli powder to the dough to get more spicy Vadai. Chopped mint leaves and coriander leaves can also be added to the dough to get mint flavor.
hi kamala,
Can we add rice to the kadala paruppu while soaking (like 1 tbsp rice for 1 cup paruppu) – i normally dont add but a friend suggested this a a tip to get extra crispy vadais. also i use vada paruppu instead of kadala paruppu (its called yellow split peas which you get in the indian grocery shops here)
Anu
Hi Anu, Yes. You can add a teaspoon of rice along with paruppu to get more crispy vada. Vada can be prepared with any dhal or whole gram. Only taste differ slightly.
Dear mam,
Ehat is meant by yellow split peas in tamil ?..
Pls expalin me
reg
sonia
Hi Sonia,
Yellow split peas are "Pattani Paruppu".
hi
yellow split peas (pattani paruppu) is more tastier than bengal gram(kadalai paruppu) for
preparing masala vadai
Dear Kamala maami,
All the recipes I have tried so far from your website have come out really well both in terms flavour and texture.Thank you so much!
Regards,
Vaishnavi
Thank you Vaishnavi for your feedback.
I HAVE TRIED MANY RECIPES & MOST HV COME VERY WELL. MY FAMILY APPRECIATED MY COOKING .
Thank you for your feed back.