These delicious super easy gluten free fritters known as Dal Vada are best served piping hot in cold or rainy weather. They taste so good dipped in green cilantro chutney. They are gluten free and vegetarian.
So, day before Diwali, we celebrate Kali Chaudas and it is quite mandatory to make any kind of Vadas. I am not sure if it is Gujarati tradition, or a tradition followed all over India. We always made Dahi Vadas. This year I decided to change it to Dalvada as its been long time since I made some at home. It is something so traditional we both grew up eating lot of times bought from street vendors. Although my mom did make it often at home.
The weather in New Jersey is slightly chilly also these days. It’s perfect fall weather and what better time to make some vadas. We planned to watch Ramayana today, and so I soaked the lentils and came back to make the batter and fry them for dinner. Yes, it can serve as a snack or enjoyed as an appetizer or side dish or just the way we enjoyed them with dinner. Given the fact, that we had lots of sweets to enjoy after meal this was perfect.Â
There are lot of variations of this type of fritters in different parts of India – South Indian style or in Delhi they make Ram ladoo. There is some similarity of using lentils but some ingredients and style differs.
If you like Falafel, these are so similar in taste. If you are not brave enough to fry it, you can waffle them too. I love these with lots of onions and cilantro.
The ingredient list is also very small.
Ingredients:
Lentils : Chana dal and Moong dal (you can use masoor dal or split green moong dal too)
Chana dal provides crispy texture and moong dal adds softness to the recipe.
Green Chilies add heat to the dish but its not at all a spicy dish. You can add less or more.
Garlic and Ginger they add to the flavors of this dish. As there is nothing else added.
Onions – I have used red onions but white should be fine too. Onions add nice flavor to the fritters too.
Cilantro – I love cilantro, but if you dislike it leave it.
Other seasonings – turmeric powder its very small quantity
Salt – it’s a savory dish to salt is needed.
Oil – for deep frying.
Dal Vada
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal washed and soaked
- ½ cup moong dal washed and soaked
- 3-4 garlic cloves
- 4-5 green chilies less or more
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1 medium sized onion chopped
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp Eno soda optional
- Oil neutral, deep frying
Instructions
- Take chana dal and split yellow moong dal, wash it with water couple of times and soak it for about 4-6 hours.
- Once the dal is soaked, you can visibly see that it has doubled in size and is soft when you try to pinch it. Drain the water completely from soaked lentils.
- Add it to a food processor, along with ginger, garlic and green chilies. Grind it to a coarse texture and remove it in a bowl. Do not add water, also coarse texture gives nice crispy taste. If you use blender or other type of equipment, just be mindlful of coarse texture. Do not process it until it is smooth.
- Add, seasoning – salt and turmeric powder. Add in chopped onions and chopped cilantro too. Give it a good mix. The more you mix, the lighter the batter becomes.
- Just when the oil is heating up, add some soda and mix it very vigorously.
- Heat up oil at around 350 F, medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the fritters with a spoon or just your hands.
- I would suggest try frying one and see if it holds up the shape. Sometimes, it might disintegrate in the oil- then add 1 tbsp of besan (chickpea flour) and 1 tbsp rice flour can also be added for binding.
- Fry them on each side for about 1-2 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove them on a paper towel lined tray.
- Serve them with some fried chilies and green chutney.
Notes
- To fry green chilies, make a slit into them so that they do not burst in oil. I like to remove seeds as well.
- You can also add split green moong dal about ¼ cup instead of ½ cup of yellow moong dal.
- Chana dal gives crispy texture and moong dal adds softness to the batter.
