Tingle-UR-Tastebuds

Am posting after sometime and as the holidays are nearing too many things around to be taken care of before shutting the house down for a whole month. For us july and august is the long vacation and we all go to Malaysia for a month and then me and kids go to India after that and then return. So am really busy with stuff to be got from here for all of them and I am doing homework for those months by scheduling the posts. So in the midst of lot of work I found time finally to post this recipe.

Most of them would have made vadai’s/vada’s with just Chana dal. But this is a vada made by adding beetroot to it. It tastes good. We can add vegetables like beetroot, snake guard/pudalangai, valai poo. These varieties of vadai are the most famous in any chettinad houses. Its not hard to make so mostly on weekends these vadas are in the menu. Everyone loves this variety of vada’s, it can be had with rice or as a snack all by itself.

Some maynot like beetroot and the colour it imparts in dishes, like my hubby. He cannot take this vegetable in any other form. I make chutney, poriyal and a kurma with beetroot. But he doesn’t like any of those, only these vadas can make him eat the beetroots. So it is a good option for those who don’t like beetroot.

Nairobi is getting cold as winters are in July and August. But nowadays the climate is becoming very unpredictable as june itself has become cold. So fried items are allowed. LOL just kidding. Do try these yummy vadas and let me know if you liked it.

Cuisine: Indian(South) | Category: Side Dishes For Rice / Chettinad Recipes | Soak time: 2 hrs | Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook time: 5 to 8 mins per batch | Makes: 20 to 25 mini vadas

 

Ingredients

• Chana Dal – 1 cup
• Beetroot – 1 cup (or 2 small sized beetroot)
• Onion – 1 medium sized (chopped finely)
• Fennel Pdr. – 1 tbsp.
• Red Chili Pdr. – 2 tsp. (Increase or decrease according to taste)
• Hing/Aesofotida/Perungayam – 1/2 tsp.
• Curry leaves – 2 tbsp. (Chopped finely)
• Coriander Leaves – 2 tbsp. (Chopped finely)
• Salt as needed.
• Oil for Deep Frying

METHOD

• Take all your ingredients ready.
• Soak the chana dal for atleast two hrs.
• Chop onion, curry leaves and coriander leaves as fine as possible.
• Peel and grate beetroot and set aside.
• After the chana dal gets soaked, drain the water completely and grind them in batches by sprinkling little water. It should not be too soft nor too coarse.
• Now add the grated beetroot, chopped onion, chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves.
• Add the hing, red chili powder, fennel powder. Mix everything well. Taste the mixture and check the level of spiciness and salt. Add if needed.
• Take enough oil for deep frying. After the oil gets heated take the vada mixture and make it a flat disc and drop it in the oil.
• Make a batch of 4 to 5 vada’s at a time. Turn them one by one and fry till they become crispy.
• Fry all the vada’s and serve them with any combination of rice and rasam or rice and sambar. It can be served by itself as a tea time snack.

Note :  The Chana Dal must be soaked for atleast two hours.

Grinding the chana dal to the right consistency is the key to getting a crispy vada. Drain the soaked dal completely without water and then grind them by sprinkling little water. Grind them in batches. As we just sprinkle little water the ground mixture will be little course and little soft. There shoud be full chana dal also.

Chopping the onion fine is very important. Chop them as fine as possible. Curry leaves and coriander leaves also must be chopped fine.

Can add either red chili powder and fennel powder. If not you can add the whole chili and fennel also, but need to grind them first before adding the dal to it.

Should grate the beetroot in the fine mesh or it will not mix with the mixture and the vada’s may disintegrate in oil.

If the ground dal mixture becomes a bit watery add a tbsp. of rice flour to make them firm.

The temperature for frying the vadas is more important. The oil must not be too hot – then the vada’s will get cooked in the outer and the inner part will remain raw. To avoid this drop the vada’s in the oil in a medium flame and then after completing a batch reduce the flame to allow it to slow cook.

The flame is kept medium at the start to allow the vada’s to get the shape and not disintegrate while turning.

The dal mixture can be made early and freezed. Defrost the dal mixture by putting it on the counter from morning. Add the onion and grated beetroot along with the spices.

Visual clicks

 

 

 

The Beetroot Vadai is ready to be served. Serve them with the combination of Rice and Sambar or Rice and Rasam. It can be served as a tea time snack also. Try and let me know if you liked it.