These vadas are packed with tons of flavor, fried to crispy, crunchy perfection, and served with a spicy green chutney. Absolutely addictive and taste amazing. Serve it at your party, and there won’t be any left!
So here I am with yet another delightful yet straightforward snack that will make your Holi all the more colorful and flavorful. Some of my fondest memories of chaat are when we enjoy Chai with hot dal vadas at our college canteen (cafeteria). Chaat, which translates into lip-smacking hors d’oeuvres are served at streetside food carts. On any given day, crispy and deliciously crunchy chana dal fritters sprinkled with chaat masala, a few fried green chilies on the side, paired with a cup of hot ginger chai – screams tea party! Nothing can beat that. It’s the perfect combination of sweet and spicy flavors. It’s hard to create the original taste, but this Dal Vada recipe is pretty close to the real deal.
» Chana dal – it’s the key ingredient. » Spinach leaves – some greens are always good, don’t you agree. » Green chili – to spice things up » Ginger – for that warm, rounded flavor » Curry leaves and cilantro leaves – adds a unique touch » Onion – just a little for that extra crunch » Peanuts – lends a sweet, nutty taste » Flavor squad – fennel seeds, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and salt.
After the soaking time, soaked lentils will swell in size.
Discard the soak water and rinse the soaked dal well with tap water.
Transfer the lentils to a blender.
Transfer the lentils to a mixing bowl. Add onions, spinach, ginger, green chilies, peanut powder, cilantro leaves, curry leaves, and all the spices.
Use your hands or a spoon to mix the spices into the lentils thoroughly. Mix until all ingredients are combined.
Separate the dal vada mixture into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Then, gently flatten the ball into a vada. Use your fingers to smoothen the edges of the vada.
Heat oil in a pan. To check if your oil has reached the frying temperature, put the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. If the oil starts bubbling around the spoon, then the oil is ready. Add dal vada to the hot oil. Fry dal vada on medium heat for 4-6 minutes per side.
Work in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan. Depending on the pan size fry 4-5 vadas at a time. Fry until the dal vadas are deeply golden in color, turning them halfway through the cooking. 12. Once cooked, transfer the dal vada to a paper towel-lined plate to soak up excess oil. Repeat this step until all the vadas are fried.
For the days when I don’t have fresh spinach leaves handy, frozen chopped spinach is a huge time saver. Squeeze the water out of the frozen spinach leaves and add it to the vada mixture. This is an essential step. Do not skip through it. Water in frozen spinach will make the dal mixture runny and difficult to handle.
» Can you store Chana dal vadas? Absolutely!
You can easily store the cooked dal vadas in the freezer until needed. Thaw the vadas on the counter and they can go directly from the freezer to the oven. Reheat the vadas in a preheat oven (@375 degrees F) for 7-8 minutes or until warmed through.
» Can you use other lentils for these vadas? You sure can!
The possibilities with these masala vadas are endless. Swap chana dal with yellow moong dal or mixed lentils works great too.
» Make sure the dal vada mixture doesn’t become sticky. For that follow these guidelines-
While grinding, do not add water to the dal. No form of moisture should be added to the dal vadas. The combined dal mixture should feel moist and not sticky. If the lentil mixture is sticky, then you need to add a little extra flour. You can add arrowroot flour or cornstarch to the vada mixture. Do not store the uncooked vadas in the fridge. Salt will draw the moisture out of the onion and spinach, and make the vadas soggy.
» How else can you cook these dal vadas? You can bake them in the oven and still end up with deliciously, crispy vadas.
Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Take a cookie sheet and place a wire rack on top. Grease the wire rack. Arrange the vadas on the wire rack and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden, turning them halfway through baking. The wire rack will allow the air to circulate under the vadas, and will enable them to cook more evenly.
Heat the Appe pan on medium heat. Brush the cavities of Appe pan with oil. Place the chana dal vadas in the greased cavities of Appe pan. Brush eat vadas on top with oil. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes until golden brown, turning them halfway through the cooking process.
Let me know in the comments if you try this Masala Dal vada recipe. Feel free to contact me with any questions or inquiries, and I would be happy to answer them.
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