Masala Vada/ Spicy Fritters

TGIF! Thank God I’m Fabulous! Just kidding – you know what I mean! I haven’t been this excited about Friday since like…. ummm last Friday. Days have been really crazy of late and I am preoccupied with so many other things!

Although, I do cook every single day, by the time I am done with it, all I want is - that food to get inside my hungry tummy, that very second…even before I can think of taking pictures. 

If you have been following me on my Instagram (psst, maybe you should! click here to follow @madras_gurl) , you might have known that I have been doing some DIY Home Projects, but again to share the tutorials , I would need – pictures, pictures, pictures! But I promise it is going to be like this for just few more days and I should soon have my posts organized.

I recently made these Masala Vadas/Spicy Fritters for a potluck and I personally felt it came out really good! I paired it with red and white chutney which apparently was a great combination. And as I already said, I missed taking pictures- yet again! I am so sorry!

But luckily, I have a smart friend ‘A’ who suggested stalking my own Instagram profile. And there it was – some old pictures of these vadas. I am so glad I found it. Although the picture quality is not great, I hope you get the idea of it! They are spicy, crispy and everything that you need to make it the perfect appetizer/snacks.

And btw, you should totally follow my smart friend ‘A’ too on Instagram! She posts really cool stuff! Click here to follow @akaleidoscopicdream.

Make these spicy fritters for your next party or enjoy them as your casual evening snack. I am sure you will love them as much as I did.

Recipe adapted from here with slight modifications

Ingredients:

Channa Dal – 2.5 cups

Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp

Ginger – ¼ inch

Garlic – 2 cloves

Black Pepper Powder – ½ tsp

Green Chilli – 2 finely cut

Coriander – handful, coarsely chopped

Mint – handful, coarsely chopped

Onion – 1, finely chopped

Salt – to taste

Red Chilli Powder – ½ tsp

Oil – for deep frying

Preparation

1. Soak channa dal in slightly salted water for 5 hours.

2. Drain the water completely from the dal.

3. Add channa dal, fennel seeds, ginger, garlic and black pepper to a mixer and grind by adding not more than 1 tablespoon of water.The batter should be coarse and grainy. It should have some 'almost whole' and 'coarse' dal.

4. Refrigerate this mixture for 30 minutes.

5. Add the other ingredients - green chilli, coriander, mint, onion, salt, red chilli powder and give a good mix.

6. Heat the oil in a pan.

7. Make small balls of the batter and flatten it.

8. When the oil is hot enough, add the flattened balls to oil and fry until golden brown.

9. Transfer the vadas/fritters to paper towel to drain the oil.

10. Serve hot with your choice of chutney.

Tips:

1. Do not add onion and salt to the batter until you are ready to fry.

2. You can check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small amount of batter. If it rises to the top, the oil is ready for frying.