Wash and soak the urad dal and the rice in water for 3-4 hours. You can also soak it overnight if planning to make it for breakfast. Drain the water after soaking. Set aside.

Add in the soaked and drained lentils and rice to the wet grinder. I prefer using a wet grinder for making this recipe as the urad dal becomes foamy and fluffy when ground in the wet grinder. This cannot be achieved in the mixie. This fluffy batter gives excellent waffles. You can grind the batter in the mixie but the texture of the vadai will be a compromise. If you are ok with that, you can go ahead and grind it in a mixie. I have done it both ways. While the mixie method gives decent results, the grinder gives excellent results.

Grind for a good 20 minutes adding water in intervals of five minutes. Use a total of one cup of water for grinding.

The batter will become a smooth paste. Remove the batter from the wet grinder and transfer it to a big bowl. Add in all the other ingredients to the batter. Mix well to combine.

Preheat the waffle maker for a couple of minutes. Scoop the vadai batter and add it to the waffle maker. Cook for 15 minutes. My waffle maker takes 15 minutes to cook. Each waffle maker might be slightly different. Check the instructions and adjust the timings accordingly. Crispy waffles with soft interior is ready.

Serve with coconut chutney or sambar.