Masal Vadai/Vada (Bengal Gram Fritter)

Know what you Eat: Channa Dal(Bengal gram) is very high in protein and very low in glycemic index. This bean looks just like yellow split peas, but is quite different because it doesn't readily boil down to mush. It's more closely related to garbanzo beans, or chickpeas. The differences are that chana dal is younger, smaller, split, sweeter, and has a much lower glycemic index. You can substitute chana dal for garbanzo beans in just about any recipe.

Normally all of us look for foods low in fat level, our family doctor comes from the school of thought that sugar and high carbohyhydrate foods are the culprit for lot of problems and not fat. We were little surprised when he told us the first time(Of course it depends on your blood work too) that when the cholestrol level becomes too low it can lead to different problems like depression, and found an interesting article supporting his idea in mercola.com a very useful web site on health related issues. But that doesn't mean we eat fried food everyday, ocassionally yes and now guilt free. Now let us get on to recipe.

This is a very popular South Indian deep fried snack made with Split Chick Peas with addition of spices and vegetables.

Cooking Time - 15 - 20 mins
Preparation Time - 15 mins
Serves - Makes around 10-12 vadas

Ingredients

Channa dal(Bengal gram) - 6 oz
Chopped onion - 1/2 cup
Chopped cilantro - 2 tbsp
Chopped Mint - 1 tbsp
Green Chilli - 1 or to taste
Cinnamon stick - 1
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 3/4 tsp or to taste
Oil to deep fry

Method

1) Soak Dal in warm water for 3-4 hours till it becomes little soft.
2) Drain the water and set aside a handful of soaked dal and grind the rest of it with green chilli,cinnamon stick,fennel seeds, turmeric powder and salt with very little water into a coarse paste.
3) Now add the set aside dal, ginger garlic paste, cilantro, onion and mint pieces and mix thoroughly.
4) Heat oil and take a small ball of the vada batter and flatten it in your palm and fry till golden on one side. Depending on the oil you have taken you can fry more than 1 vada at the same time. I don't take lot of oil and take as much oil needed for frying around 3 vadas as i don't reuse this oil(Yes because of high level of free radicals in them when reheating).
5) Now flip the other side and fry till golden on the other side and remove the vada and keep it in a paper towel to drain the excess oil.
6) Serve it with side dish of your choice like tomato ketchup or chutney.

l This is our entry to:Sunday Snacks - Chaats/Indian Street Foods hosted by Pallavi.

Posted in: channa dal,fritter,gluten-free-snacks,snack,southindian,vada,vadai