Vadas are South Indian fried fritters that can be made with gram flour (chickpea flour), potato, urad dal, etc. For rasam vada, a wonderful dish of rasam (a sour and spicy soup) served over vada, urad dal is ground and whipped to make a light fritter.

My mother in law taught me how to make these vadas. She showed me how to fluff up the batter just before cooking with your hand to get air into the batter. This makes them light and fluffy!

They are supposed to look kind of like little donuts, but I can’t seem to get the hole in the middle of a vada! I think my batter today might have been too thin and that is why. Next time I’ll be careful about adding water when grinding. Hole or not, they were really good. Light, airy and fluffy. We had these urad dal vadas with rasam and yogurt chutney.

1 cup urad dal
1 green chili chopped
Salt
Pinch hing
1/4 cup cilantro chopped
Oil for deep frying

1. Soak urad dal in water over night.
2. Drain dal and add to a food processor or grinder. Grind dal, green chili, and a little salt for 10-15 minutes adding a tiny bit of water if necessary.
3. Pour into a mixing bowl and mix in hing and cilantro.
4. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat.
5. Right before frying, using your hand, fluff up the batter using swift strokes. This will get air into the batter and make the vadas light and fluffy.