Masala Vada (Chattambade) is an addictive and delicious snack recipe that is crispy and crunchy, perfect with hot tea or coffee.
Check out some of the best evening tea time snack recipes.
About Chattambade (Paruppu Vadai)
Masala vada is called Chattambade in the Mangalore, Udupi, and Karkala region. It is a popular street food prepared using split chickpeas (kadle bele or paruppu), aromatic herbs, and spices. Chatte means flattened, and amabade means fritters.
In Tamil Nadu, these fritters, or dal vada are called paruppu vadai. In South India and Gujarat, masala vada (dal vada) is prepared for an evening tea-time snack, with each region having its own variation with spices, but the method remains the same.
Warning: These are super tasty, crispy, and so addictive that when served with a cup of coffee or milk chai tea, you will miss the count on the number of vadas you ate.
During festivals like Navratri or fasting days, these chattambade or masala vada are prepared without any onion or garlic, and they still taste delicious.
Ingredients
Chana Dal: Also called split chickpeas, kadalebele, or paruppu. Know more about chana dal with picture here.
Herbs: curry leaves, coriander leaves, and dill leaves (sabasige soppu).
For flavor: Onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilies with a pinch of hing is added.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Step-by-step instructions
Wash, soak, drain, and grind chana dal
- Wash and soak the chana dal / split chickpeas in water for atleast 2 hours. Now completely drain the water from the soaked dal.
- Add the drained chana dal to a mixie jar or blender. Grind to form a coarse paste. Do not add any water while grinding. If you see a few chana dal here and there, that's fine and good.
Make the chattambade dough.
- Transfer the coarse chana dal to a large mixing bowl. Add curry leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies, garlic, onion, ginger, dill, and hing, and mix well to get a well-binding mixture.
- Make a lemon-sized ball and pat it lightly with your fingers. The mixture should hold its shape and not fall apart.
Pro Tip: Only if you are not able to bind, add any flour of your choice mentioned and mix or put 3 to 4 tablespoon of the mixture back into the blender and blend it to a smooth paste and mix again.
How do you shape chana dal vada?
- Take a small portion of dough between your palms and shape it into a ball. Place this on your left hand and flatten it. Reverse it back on your right finger and drop it in hot oil. This is how it is traditionally done in streets, restaurants, and homes where they fry masala vada frequently.
- If you are a beginner, shape them into balls, flatten them, and place them on parchment paper till you are ready to fry.
How to fry crispy masala vada (chattambade)?
- Heat oil in a pan for frying on medium flame. See that atleast 40 % of the pan is covered with oil.
- Once the oil is hot, slide the shaped vadas one after the other, 4 to 6 at a time, depending on the side of the pan.
- Do not disturb them after adding in oil for 2 minutes or until they turn firm. Else, they will break.
- Now using a perforated laddle, flip and fry until they become crisp and golden brown on all sides.
- Transfer this to a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Repeat the process for the remaining dough.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney or mint chutney, a cup of Indian tea, or disco coffee.
Tips
- The ground paste must be coarse and not smooth.
- If you find it difficult to make the balls, add flour for binding.
- Oil should not be too hot or cold while frying. If it's too hot, vadas will soon turn brown and remain uncooked inside. If it's too cold, then it will absorb excess oil. The best practice is to fry, switching the flame between medium-high and medium.
- Do not overcrowd the pan. Add the number of chattambades depending on the size of your pan.
- Adjust spices to taste.
- The time it takes to fry depends on the intensity of the flame, the thickness of the pan, and the number of vadas added.
- Any leftover dough can be stored in the refrigerator for four days. But make sure you don't add onions. It is better to skip onions if you know that you are going to fry them in batches for the next few days.
- Only if preparing for an evening snack, add onion and garlic. We make this during Navratri and festive meals, and in that case, skip adding onion and garlic.
Healthy Dal Vada
You can air fry or oven-bake the vadas. It won't be crispy like the traditional masala vada but will be healthier. Also, note that the baking time will vary based on the thickness of your patties.
Air fryer masala vada
Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees F. Place the shaped vadas, drizzle oil, and air fry for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Oven-baked Indian falafel
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place the shaped vadas on your baking sheet and brush it with oil. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, flipping around 8-minute mark.
Recipe FAQs
After frying, store it in an airtight conatiner once it comes to room temperature. You can keep it at room temperature for a day, in the refrigerator, for up to 7 days. Reheat in tava or microwave until heated through.
Also, make sure you are not in a hurry and fry vada on medium flame until they turn crispy and golden brown on all sides.
Chana Dal is produced by removing the skin of black chickpeas (kala chana) and then splitting the kernel. It is called Bengal gram in English, Kadle bele in Kannada, ,chane ki dal in Hindi, Kadalai paruppu in Tamil, Chanyachi dal in Marathi, senaga pappu in Telugu, and kadala parippu in Malayalam.
More Indian snacks
Did you like this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating below and/or a review in the comments section. You can also stay in touch with us through social media by following us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Recipe card
Crispy Masala Vada | Chattambade | Paruppu Vadai
Equipment
- Pan for frying
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups Chana Dal split chickpeas
- 1 leaflet Curry leaves finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon Coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 to 3 Green chilies finely chopped
- 3 Garlic cloves finely chopped (optional)
- 1 Onion finely chopped (optional)
- 1 inch Ginger grated
- 2 tablespoon Dill leaves or Sabasige soppu
- Pinch of Asafoetida / hing
- ¼ cup Rice flour besan, or all-purpose flour (optional)
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Instructions
Wash, soak, drain, and grind chana dal
- Wash and soak the chana dal / split chickpeas in water for atleast 2 hours. Now completely drain the water from the soaked dal.1 ½ cups Chana Dal
- Add the drained chana dal to a mixie jar or blender. Grind to form a coarse paste. Do not add any water while grinding. If you see a few chana dal here and there, that's fine and good.
Make the chattambade dough.
- Transfer the coarse chana dal to a large mixing bowl. Add curry leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies, garlic, onion, ginger, dill, hing, salt and mix well to get a well-binding mixture.1 leaflet Curry leaves, 3 tablespoon Coriander leaves, 2 to 3 Green chilies, 3 Garlic cloves, 1 Onion, 1 inch Ginger, 2 tablespoon Dill leaves, Pinch of Asafoetida, Salt to taste
- Make a lemon-sized ball and pat it lightly with your fingers. The mixture should hold its shape and not fall apart.
- Pro Tip: Only if you are not able to bind, add any flour of your choice mentioned and mix or put 3 to 4 tablespoon of the mixture back into the blender and blend it to a smooth paste and mix again.¼ cup Rice flour
How do you shape chana dal vada?
- Take a small portion of dough between your palms and shape it into a ball. Place this on your left hand and flatten it. Reverse it back on your right finger and drop it in hot oil. This is how it is traditionally done in streets, restaurants, and homes where they fry masala vada frequently.
- If you are a beginner, shape them into balls, flatten them, and place them on parchment paper till you are ready to fry.
How to fry crispy masala vada (chattambade)?
- Heat oil in a pan for frying on medium flame. See that atleast 40 % of the pan is covered with oil.Oil for frying
- Once the oil is hot, slide the shaped vadas one after the other, 4 to 6 at a time, depending on the side of the pan.
- Do not disturb them after adding in oil for 2 minutes or until they turn firm. Else, they will break.
- Now using a perforated laddle, flip and fry until they become crisp and golden brown on all sides.
- Transfer this to a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Repeat the process for the remaining dough.
- Serve hot with coconut chutney or mint chutney, a cup of Indian tea, or disco coffee.
Notes
- The ground paste must be coarse and not smooth.
- If you find it difficult to make the balls, add flour for binding.
- Oil should not be too hot or cold while frying. If it's too hot, vadas will soon turn brown and remain uncooked inside. If it's too cold, then it will absorb excess oil. The best practice is to fry, switching the flame between medium-high and medium.
- Do not overcrowd the pan. Add the number of chattambades depending on the size of your pan.
- Adjust spices to taste.
- The time it takes to fry depends on the intensity of the flame, the thickness of the pan, and the number of vadas added.
- Any leftover dough can be stored in the refrigerator for four days. But make sure you don't add onions. It is better to skip onions if you know that you are going to fry them in batches for the next few days.
- Only if preparing for an evening snack, add onion and garlic. We make this during Navratri and festive meals, and in that case, skip adding onion and garlic.
AIR FRYER MASALA VADA
Preheat your air fryer to 350 degrees F. Place the shaped vadas, drizzle oil, and air fry for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping halfway through.OVEN-BAKED INDIAN FALAFEL
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Place the shaped vadas on your baking sheet and brush it with oil. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, flipping around 8-minute mark.Nutrition
Note: We originally posted this chickpea tikka masala recipe in Nov 2016. It has now been modified in Sep 2023 with Expert Chef Tips, FAQs, Storage Instructions, etc.
Vasudha Chandrachud
Tasty n nutritious.
Kushi
Thank you dear 🙂