The first time I had Vadacurry was during my college days in Chennai. I loved it so much and I still do. I tried this recipe recently and I was thrilled to bits. The traditional way to do the vadacurry is to deep fry the vadais and then add it to the curry. But I am steaming the vadais today to keep it a little more healthier. This recipe has been minimally adapted from Chef.Dhamu. Here is how to do Vadacurry.
Soak chana dal (kadalai paruppu) in water for 3 hours. Grind the chana dal with salt and fennel seeds sprinkling very little water while grinding. Grind to a slightly coarse paste. Transfer the ground paste to an idli plate.
Steam the paste for 15 minutes. After steaming, break the cooked lentil into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in fennel seeds, cardamom cloves and dried red chillies. Add in the chopped onions and saute till the onions are slightly brown.
Take a mixie jar and add in the tomatoes, garlic and ginger to the jar. Grind to a smooth paste. Add the ground tomato-ginger-garlic paste to the pan. Add in the salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder.
Add 2 cups of water to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and allow it to simmer for 20-25 minutes till the masala is well cooked and the raw smell of the masala powders are gone.
Add in the roughly chopped mint leaves and coriander leaves.
Add in the cooked lentil pieces and simmer for a couple of minutes. Vadacurry is ready!
Vadacurry Recipe, Vadacurry using steamed Vadai
Vadacurry recipe using steamed Vadai. Recipe adapted from Chef. Dhamu. Deepavali special Vadacurry.
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Ingredients
For seaming the vadai
- 1 cup chana dal (kadalai paruppu)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
For the curry
- 4 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 2 dried red chillies
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 3 tomatoes
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 10 stalks of mint leaves
- 5 stalks of coriander leaves
Instructions
- Soak chana dal in water for 3 hours. Grind the chana dal with salt and fennel seeds sprinkling very little water while grinding. Grind to a slightly coarse paste. Transfer the ground paste to an idli plate.
- Steam the paste for 15 minutes. After steaming, break the cooked lentil into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in fennel seeds, cardamom, cloves and dried red chillies. Add in the chopped onions and saute till the onions are slightly brown.
- Take a mixie jar and add in the tomatoes, garlic and ginger to the jar. Grind to a smooth paste. Add the ground tomato-ginger-garlic paste to the pan. Add in the salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder.
- Add 2 cups of water to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and allow it to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Add in the roughly chopped mint leaves and coriander leaves.
- Add in the cooked lentil pieces and simmer for a couple of minutes. Vadacurry is ready!
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Fantastic vadakari. Recipe was simple but tasted amazing. I airfried the vadas and curry was light and full of flavor. Thank you for a great recipe.
Thank you!
Easy and tasty recipe. I airfried the vadais and the curry was fantastic. Everyone loved it.
Hi, I generally prepare vada curry with coconut paste. Tried this recipe today, came out well, more authentic in taste and simple to prepare. Thank you…
I tried this vadacurry recipe and it didn’t come well.this tastes like tomato kurma.