Puli Vadai is a southern kongunad specialty. Its very popular in the Pollachi – Udumalpet belt. People of southern kongunad are called as the Dhatchanam people / Dakshin people meaning people of the south. My father in law always says that its a dhatchanam specialty and Coimbatore guys can never make it as good as them. I need to agree with him. I did not know about this vadai till the time I got married. Its a must for all festivals and special occasions at my husbands place. This tamarind vadai fluffs up like poori when fried and the vadai batter is nothing like you have seen. Its very unique and very delicious tangy fluffy goodness. My mother in law Gokilama makes amazing puli vadai / pulusu vadai. This is her way of making it. She learnt it from her mother in law. Here is how to do it.
NOTE: This is not a beginners recipe
This vadai is made with a rice batter. Par boiled rice / puzhungal arisi is what is used for making this vadai. The ingredients are soaked and ground to a very thick batter and then shaped and fried.
Soak the rice and the toor dal in water for a couple of hours. Drain and set aside.
Take a mixie jar and add in all the ingredients to the jar. The soaked rice and dal, tamarind, salt, dried red chillies and fresh shredded coconut.
Do not add water at the beginning while grinding. Pulse the mixie several times until the mixture is kind of pasty. Add couple of tablespoons of water at a time and grind the batter to a paste. Add water only when absolutely necessary. Let the paste be very slightly coarse. The batter should be thick. So use caution and add very little water while grinding. The batter will slightly firm up after an hour of resting.
Now, what to do if the batter goes wet?
So sometimes, the batter may go wet and here is a remedy. Take the ground batter and spread it on a plate. Place a dry towel on the batter and gently press to remove the excess water. If the batter is still wet, then add in a couple of tablespoon of rice flour and mix well.
Once the batter is ground, rest it for an hour. I keep the ground batter in the refrigerator to firm up. You can store the batter at this stage for up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
Now its frying time. Heat oil until hot.
Take a plastic paper and keep it on a flat surface. Slightly oil the paper and your hands. Take a small piece of the batter and make a ball. Place the ball on the paper and spread the ball with finger tips to form a circle. Keep the circle thick. Thin vadas will not fluff up. Also make sure there are no holes while forming the vadas.
Gently remove the spread batter from the plastic sheet and place it in oil. Do not disturb for 10-15 seconds. The vadas will start to fluff up. Gently turn the vadas. Fry for 20-30 seconds on each side. The batter will fluff up in oil like pooris. When the vadai is deep golden brown, remove and drain on paper towels.  Do not crowd the pan while making vadas.
Serve hot.
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Puli Vadai, Tamarind Vadai – Kongunad Special Pulusu Vadai
Recipe for Puli Vadai , Pulusu Vadai – A southern kongunad specialty. Puli Vadai made with rice, lentils and tamarind.
- Total Time: 2 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 20 vadas 1x
Ingredients
- measurements used – 1 cup = 240 ml
- 1 cup par boiled rice (puzhungal arisi)
- 1/4 cup toor dal
- 1 small lime size tamarind
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 dried red chillies
- 1/4 cup fresh shredded coconut
- 500 ml vegetable oil for deep frying
Instructions
Grinding
- Soak the rice and the toor dal in water for a couple of hours. Drain and set aside.
- Take a mixie jar and add in all the ingredients to the jar.
- Do not add water at the beginning while grinding. Pulse the mixie several times until the mixture is coarse. Add couple of tablespoons of water at a time and grind the batter to a paste. Let the paste be very slightly coarse. Do not grind to a fine paste. The batter should be thick. So use caution and add very little water while grinding.
- Once the batter is ground, rest it for an hour in the refrigerator.
For frying
- Heat oil until hot.
- Take a plastic paper and keep it on a flat surface. Slightly oil the surface. Take a small piece of the batter and make a ball. Place the ball on the paper and spread the ball with finger tips to form a circle.
- Gently remove the spread dough and place it in oil. Fry for a minute on each side. The batter will fluff up in oil like pooris. When the vadai is deep golden brown, remove and drain on paper towels.
- Serve hot.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Kongunad
I tried this recipe and it came out super yummy ! Tasted authentic udumalpet style. Thank you for putting this one up.
Thank you!
Hi Kannamma. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I am basically from Udumalpet… This Puli…. One of my mom’s favourite recipe…. My mom was a great cook..ohh I love her cooking very much….but I have lost her 2 years back….. As I was going through your recipes oh this one really surprised me. I have almost forgot this recipe… Again thank you very much….I haven’t tried yet but thanks…. Keep posting…. keep rocking….
My mom would add some garlic it would taste amazing….
Thank you very much.
Glad to know your mum liked it. Food is memories 🙂
Sorry that she is not here but I am sure your food memories with her will stay alive.
Dear Suguna
I’m the regular follower of your recipes. My native place is Neikkarapati. I thought pulusu vadai is famous recipe of Telugu speaking naidu community. . Is that wrong? Is this Kongu special?
Actually we are Telugu people from Coimbatore but has never heard of it until I got married to udumalpet.
yup! so true. the cuisine varies every 50 kms.
Adding few small onions while grinding the batter will enhance the taste and aroma. This trick passed down by my paternal aunt makes my pulli vadai great among my in-laws. My mil could never achieve that taste and accepts i make better pulli vadai than her.
Will try your version Bharathi.
OMG. i was dying for this recipe literally….. IT BRINGS on all my childhood memories. My athai used to make whenever we visit her home….. And by the way i am from udumalpet…
So nice. Thank you!
Small world! My grandmother used to make this, but without the tamarind. It’s a Kerala Iyer recipe called polla vadai. Evening tiffin of hot polla vadais with ghetti thenga chutney. Droooll!
thats so nice to know Rajashree!
Damn, I wish I could think of soimhteng smart like that!
OMG thank you so much… i have been searching for this recipe since a decade…
Thanks Nithya.
I am becoming a big fan your site ! Thanjs for the recipes !
Thank you
Nice receipe
That looks delicious.I have heard of puli vadai but did not have the recipe.Thank you for all the unique ,traditional recipes which one can’t find elsewhere.
Thank You Geetha!
Suguna !! You are just amazing. I am really hooked to your blog,
– To get to know the receipes!!
– To get to know about your family!!- This part is tooooo good and love the way you relate every receipe to a family member. I find this as food and family blog!! 🙂
– To get to know “MORE” about kongunad region. Even I was brought up in Coimbatore.
GREAT WORK !!!
Thank you so much Lalitha Shankar. Glad to know that you are also from Coimbatore. Happy Cooking!