November 30, 2011

Paruppu Vadai a.k.a Aamai Vadai

Vadai is a deep fried delicacy that's crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. No marriage / festival is considered complete without vadai. Paruppu vadai & Ulundu vadai are the two most common vadai made during any south Indian festivals/functions.


Sometimes, my mom dunks aamai vadai into piping hot tomato rasam as soon as it comes out of the oil. Later, we mix this soaked goodness with plain rice, little ghee and with mor-kuzhambu on the side - mmmmm... simply delicious! Just try out this combo & taste it for yourself!

Did you know?
Vadai got the name "aamai vadai" for its shape and texture, for 'aamai' in tamil means tortoise.


Ingredients
Channa dal - 1 cup
Urad dal - 1 tbsp
Toor dal - 1 tbsp
Red chillies - 4 nos
Green chillies - 1 no
Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - for Frying

Method
Wash and soak all the dals together in water for atleast an hour. More the soaking, softer the vadai. Drain all the water and add rest of the ingredients to grind them into thick & slightly coarser batter. Use as little water as possible.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Take about a half handful of dough and flatten it on your left palm and then, gently transfer the batter into oil. You can also use a plastic sheet / plantain leaf to make this vadai and then transfer the batter into oil.


Cook on medium heat so that inside of the vadai also gets cooked properly.


Tips
- Do not grind the dough very smooth - it is okay if few of the dals remains unground, as it will give a crunchy texture to the vadai.
- You can add finely chopped onions & a tsp of fennel seeds to make it "masal" vadai. Find the recipe here.

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