This masal vadai recipe / masala vada recipe is a very famous street food found in almost all tea shops (tea kadai) till hotels and restaurants. It’s a very simple recipe with few ingredients and the main point to be noted here is the batter/mix consistency only. The batter should be coarse and almost dry to get crispy paruppu vadai. It is also a protein rich snack with less oil and it stays crispy for hours. If you are bored of the regular ulundhu vadai, try this vada for all festivals like diwali, varamahalakshmi vrat etc without onion and garlic. Ok, let’s go to the recipe……

 

1. Soak the channa dal for minimum 3 hours, else the paruppu vadai turns hard.
2. Also don’t soak the dal for more than 3 hours as the vada wont turn crispy.
3. Never pour/add water while grinding dal, the mix should be coarse only. The batter/mix consistency is very important for this masal vadai recipe.
4. Onions can be replaced with shallots/small onions which adds more taste .
5. Mint leaves, carrot can also be used for more flavour and taste.
6. For quick version, ginger and garlic can be replaced with 1.5 tsp of ginger-garlic paste.
7. Raw rice/rice flour/sooji any one of these can be used for crispiness. If using raw rice, soak and grind it along with dal.
8. I added hot oil for binding purpose and crispiness.
9. If the batter turns watery, add about 1/2 tbsp of rice flour for binding. But don’t add more, it makes the vada hard.
10. Also don’t make the vada too thick (medium thickness only) as it wont get cooked inside.
11. Always fry the vada in medium flame only, so it will be cooked evenly both outside and inside.
12. If preparing this masala vada recipe for any festivals, skip onion, garlic and make it plain.
13. Add salt just before frying the vada, otherwise it oozes out water and the batter becomes little watery.
14. This batter/mix can be stored in refrigerator for a 2 days, but add onion and salt before frying only.