Crispy Masala Vada | Chattambade | Paruppu Vadai
Masala Vada (Chattambade) is an addictive and delicious snack recipe that is crispy and crunchy, perfect with hot tea or coffee.
Servings: 20
Calories: 58kcal
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
Calories: 58kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.01g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.01g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.02g | Sodium: 74mg | Potassium: 27mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg