Chattambade a.k.a Dhal vada or Masal Vada is easy to make. It may be served as an appetizer, side dish along with rice, or goes well with evening tea. I truly enjoy hot Masal Vada with my evening tea on a rainy day :)
Ingredients:
- Kaddle Bhale /Bengal gram dhal /Chana dhal– 1 cup.
- Finely chopped onions – 1/4 cup.
- Green chillies – 7 ( or to taste) –finely chopped or paste. If you prefer Chilli powder may be used instead of green chillies.
- Crushed ginger – 1 tsp. (Optional)
- Chopped coriander – 2 Tbl.sp.
- Chopped curry leaves – 1 tsp.
- Salt - to taste
- Oil enough for deep frying.
Method:
- Soak dhal in water for 2 hours ( Tip: if you are short on time, wash Chana dhal and with little water microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove add some more water and let it soak for half an hour)
- Drain water completely and grind to coarse paste. Say pulse the soaked lentils for 5 to 6 times in the blender. As you will notice in the picture some of the lentils are intact.
- Add salt and other ingredients and mix it all together.
- Make lemon sized balls, flatten slightly and deep fry in hot oil. 8 to 10 vadas may be deep fried at a time or till the oil holds depending on the size of the frying pan.
- Serve hot with coconut or chickpeas chetney.
Variations:
- Grind red chillies, cumin seeds, hing(asafoetida and few small onions together. Mix with ground dhal paste. Add drumstick leaves and aniseed. Make vade as mentioned previously
- Finely chopped mint leaves (puddina) or dill leaves (sabsige soppu) or any other greens may be added.
Sajjige Vade is normally made with leftover Sajjige Rotti dough.
Ingredients:
- Sajjige Rotti dough - 2 cup
- Sujji/Rava - ½ cup
- Ginger - small piece - minced
- Asafoetida/hing - a pinch
- Onion - cut into small pieces (optional)
- Salt - If needed
Method:
- Mix all the ingredients and keep aside for 5 minutes to let the fresh rava absorb the moisture and spice to form think dough.
- Form the dough into small 5 cm diameter sized balls and press it on a plastic sheet to flatten it into patties.
- In a frying pan, heat oil and when oil is ready, add each patties carefully and fry until golden brown in color
- Remove vadas from oil and place them on strainer or paper tissue to remove excess oil.
Enjoy with hot evening tea!!
