Paruppu vadai or dal vada, made with chana dal and a little urad dal. A crisp, flavourful treat inspite the fact it has no masala or garlic. Simplest recipe which you can make without onion too. With full video and step by step pictures.
As I have already told in my masala vada post, masala vada is totally new to me in making with masala items like fennel (soambu), cinnamon, garlic, ginger, garam masala, mint leaves, etc. My MIL and mom makes a simplest paruppu vadai which has no so many ingredients, yet it is really flavourful and tasty in its own way. So yesterday I asked my MIL how she makes paruppu vadai and made that way. Its been a long time I made paruppu vadai or masala vadai. So when I followed this simple and easiest method, it turned out very tasty and flavourful.

How to make paruppu vadai video

Paruppu vadai recipe

Recipe Cuisine: Indian | Recipe Category: Snack
Prep Time: 3 hrs Soaking time + 10 mins | Cook time:20 mins | Makes:15 | Author: Raks anand

Click here for cup measurements

Click here to read in tamil

Ingredients

Chana dal – 1/2 cup
Urad dal – 1 tbsp
Onion* – 1
Red chilli – 4
Finely chopped carrot – 2 tbsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp
Salt – as needed

*You can also skip onion.

Method

First soak chana dal and urad dal for 3 hours.
Grind red chilli and salt coarsely, before adding soaked dal.
Next add the soaked dal, completely drained from water. Grind coarsely. No excess water needed.
Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add chopped onion, carrot, curry leaves, asafoetida, cumin seeds. Mix well.Water your hands, take small lemon sized balls.
Flatten over your palm.
Heat oil in kadai until hot and drop the shaped vada in oil. You can fry 4-5 at a time depending on the size and oil level.
Cook in medium flame until golden. Flip in between so that both sides are evenly golden and crisp. Repeat to finish. Drain over paper towels.

Notes

If dals are not soaked properly, the vada will hard crisp. Urad dal prevents the vada being too dry and hard crisp.
While grinding, do not grind continuously. Stop and wipe the sides so that not too many dals are seen whole without getting ground. Few fine. It takes very less time to grind.
You can skip onion or add few shallots. You can add cabbage, peas,coriander too. But this is a simple recipe that I don’t want to change.
Cooking in medium heat for long time makes the vada crisp. But while dropping the vada in oil, it should be hot.
My MIL adds chopped coconut when she skips onion.

Step by step pictures

First soak chana dal and urad dal for 3 hours.

Grind red chilli and salt coarsely before adding soaked dal.

Next add the soaked dal, drained from water. Grind coarsely. No excess water needed.

Transfer to a mixing bowl. Add chopped onion, carrot, curry leaves, asafoetida, cumin seeds. Mix well. Water your hands slightly, take small lemon sized balls