Vada Curry is one of the famous and flavorful side dish of South Indian Cuisine. It is often had for breakfast along with Set Dosa, Idli or aapam.
I first felt it had lot of ingredients but each and every ingredient adds a special taste and aroma to the dish making them indispensable.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
| Soaking time – 2 to 3 hours Preparation time – 15 mins Cooking time – 30 mins |
For Vada
- Channa dal – 3/4 cup
- Toor dal – 1/4 cup
- Red chillies – 3
- Fennel – 1/2 tsp
- Jeera – 1/2 tsp
- Asafoetida – a pinch
- Salt – As required
- Oil – to deep fry
For Gravy
- Tomato – 3, big roughly chopped
- Shallots – 10 to 12, finely chopped
- Ginger garlic paste – 1/2 tbsp
- Green chillies – 2
- Mint leaves – 1/2 cup, tightly packed
- Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
- Garam masala – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1 tsp
- Coconut – 1/2 cup, grated
- Corriander leaves – 3 tbsp
- Salt – As required
- Oil – As required
- Bay leaf – 1
- Cinnamon – 1 inch
- Cloves – 3
- Cardamom – 2
- Fennel – 1/2 tsp
- Curry leaves – a sprig
Steps
- Soak channa dal and toor dal for 2 to 3 hours.
- Grind them along with red chillies, fennel, jeera and salt with no water added to form a thick paste.
- Roll and flatten the batter to make vadas.
- Heat oil to deep fry, add the vada.
- Deep fry till brown and drain excess oil.
- Grind coconut with little water to form a paste. Keep it aside.
- In a pan add oil and temper with Bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, fennel and curry leaves.
- Add ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes off.
- Add finely chopped onions, green chillies and fry till they turn transparent.
- Add mint leaves and sauté.
- Add the tomato purée and allow it to boil in low flame.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and mix well.
- Close and cook till the raw smell goes off.
- Add the coconut paste and mix.
- Now break the vada into pieces and add them to the gravy.
- Add 1/2 cup of water and allow to boil for two minutes.
- Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.
We had with Idli and was so yummy and I had some as such too !!
Key Points
- You can steam the vadas instead of deep frying.
- Adjust the water consistency as the gravy thickens with time.
- Adjust the spice powder as per your taste.
- You can either use Channa Dal and Toor dal together or channa dal alone.
