Recipe for south Indian Tamilnadu style paruppu vadai recipe. Made with chana dal. With step by step pictures.
My moms family is big. Super big. She has 6 sisters and 4 brothers. The last of the lot is my aunt Prema Sithi. She was the one who would take all the children for shopping in her Fiat car and would buy big boxes of ice cream on the way back home. Usually, when our aunts and uncles visited home, they would bring sweets and snacks. But Prema Sithi would get us toys. Not just any toys but super cool toys and board games. So Prema Sithi was the favorite aunt among the kids. She still is. This is her signature vadai recipe. Here is a picture of Prema Sithi, my baby and paati.
Soak the chana dal for 2 hours. Do not soak longer than that or the vadai will consume a lot of oil while frying. Drain the dal after 2 hours. Grind the dal with the red chillies, asafoetida and salt. My aunt says rock salt tastes well for this recipe. Use about 2-3 tablespoon of water while grinding. You should grind the batter to a coarse paste. The coarse texture is very important.
To the ground batter, add in lots of finely chopped onions, chopped curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves, finely chopped green chillies and cumin seeds. My aunt says that adding lots of onions and coriander leaves adds flavour to the vadai. So be generous with the veggies.
Mix well and check for seasoning. Add extra salt if necessary. Form the vadai. Take a small lime size batter in hand and make a ball. Make small balls. Remember that smaller balls makes for crispier vadai’s. Gently flatten it on the hands. Gather the edges to smoothen. The more you flatten, the more crispier the vadais.
Gently lower the vadais in hot oil and cook the vadai on both sides until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
Serve hot in a big bowl with your family.
- 1 cup (250 ml) Chana Dal
- 1 teaspoon rock salt
- 2 dried red chillies
- ¼ teaspoon asafoetida
- 2 onions, finely choppes
- 10 stalks coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 2 sprigs curry leaves, finely chopped
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 500 ml Oil for deep frying
- Soak the chana dal for 2 hours. Drain the dal after 2 hours. Grind the dal with the red chillies, asafoetida and salt. Use about 2-3 tablespoon of water while grinding. Grind the batter to a coarse paste.
- To the ground batter, add in lots of finely chopped onions, chopped curry leaves, chopped coriander leaves, finely chopped green chillies and cumin seeds.
- Mix well and check for seasoning. Form the vadai. Take a small lime size batter in hand and make a ball. Gently flatten it on the hands. Gather the edges to smoothen.
- Gently lower the vadais in hot oil and cook the vadai on both sides until golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
- Serve hot!
Turns out good every time!! Thanku
Thank you for the recipe. The two hours soaking really made the vadai soft and crisp. Tasted so good.
Thank you.
Hi Suguna,
Tried the recipe. Vadai came out very nice and crispy. Earlier I used to struggle with the crispness and add rice flour, it kind of left a taste. But the soaking just two hours, as you mentioned gave a good crispness.
I have tried Ur ambur mutton biriyani also. Came out very well. Next on my list is veggie balls. Just bought some white channa dhal.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes with everyone.
Referred your recipe for making Diwali special vadai in Denmark .. it’s such a big hit in my office and they just loved it .. Thank you so much for the recipe .. and the salt level is just perfect .. it usually that’s where I stumble a bit 🙂 and it stayed crispy the whole day !!
Referred your recipe for making Diwali special vadai in Denmark .. it’s such a big hit in my office and they just loved it .. Thank you so much for the recipe .. and the salt level is just perfect .. usually that’s where I stumble a bit 🙂
Happy Deepavali to you and your family! Thank you!
Tomorrow we have small get together in my family so each one has to do one recipe.. in that I was forced to cook parupu vadai so let me know the ingredients level for 1kg parupu it will be very useful for me… also tell me in 1kg parupu how many vadai will come??? Waiting for your comments.. thank you
Hi Mam, I love most of your recipes.. I love reading the intro you give about a person before starting a recipe.. Now my comment.. I make kadala paruppu vadai quite often as my hubby loves it . I soak the dal for 4 hours usually.. Today I slept off and I just had two hours left.. I immediately checked your blog and you had mentioned two hours soaking is fine..Ada edhuku dhaan nama kanamma venumgradhu.. Vadais turned out wonderful.. Wanted to take pics of it and send you but dint want to test hubby’s patience .. Thank you kanamma.
Thanks so much.
u can also add fennel seeds,cinnamon,cloves and unpeeled garlic instead cumin seeds…it adds additional flavor to it.
Hi Kannamma
Cooked it just now.Superb taste.while cooking just to check tasted one,couldnt resist.Had four vadas by the time I cooked?.Thanks for recipe.
Hi kannamma,I one thing I struggled with tis masal vada is the crispiness….I too tried different tips n tricks but nthng wrkd out fr me….whn the vada is hot it wil b crispy n aftr sumtym it won b do….but I tried ur trick of flattening it nicely….it came out sooo crispy…n nly tis tip wrkd out wel fr me….n wil wrk fr anyone I hope so….thnk u fr ur tips n tricks..
Thank you Keerthana! Yes. the flattening trick works. Happy cooking!
Tried this today. Came out very well! Thanks a lot. Even the salt level was perfect for me following your exact measurements.
Next in my queue is to try – Annapoorna Gowrishankar sambhar 🙂
Thank you Priya! Let us know how the sambar turns out.