Air fryer masal vada

I shared a recipe for medhu vadai previously which required more prep ( i.e. making a batter etc.). Masal vadai can be made much more easily!When you have a hankering for this just soak the bengal gram (chana dal) and you can use it in a few hours. It is a high protein, crunchy, tasty snack.It is typically deep fried but I used this recipe for air-fryer instructions and my mom's recipe to make the batter for the vada.

Ingredients:

Channa Dal 1/2 cup ( soak in water for 2 hours)

Onion - 1/2 chopped finely

fennel- 1 tbsp

cilantro- chopped 1/4 cup

curry leaf- 4 or 5

dried red chili - 1 ground into a powder

salt to taste

oil- 1 tbsp

Instructions:

Pre-heat air fryer to 390F

1. Take the soaked dal and grind into a coarse paste in the blender. (Leave a hand full of whole dal out to mix in later to give a bit of crunch to the vada)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2.  Now add a little oil on a sauce pan on medium heat. Saute the onions until translucent and then saute fennel 
3. Now add in the onion and fennel mixture, salt, cilantro, curry leaf to the ground dal and mix well. Taste the mixture to adjust the salt. Now add in ground red chili powder to taste.
   
   
   
4. Shape the mixture into little balls and flatten them. You can apply some oil on your hands to prevent the vada from sticking to your hand.

   

5. Spritz with oil and place in the air fryer basket and cook for 4 min at 390 F. Flip it over and spritz with some oil and cook for another 4 minutes.  Healthy and tasty masal vadai is ready to serve.

Medhu Vadai (savory fried snack)

Growing up I enjoyed medhu Vadai as a treat during festivals. Later in life we made it whenever we had a hankering for a savory fried snack or when we saved some of the urad dal batter used in making idli batter.

Ingredients:

Whole Urad dal ( skinned black gram)- 1 cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp ( to taste)

Onion - 1 medium cut into small pieces

Ginger - 1 inch cut into small pieces

Green chillies - 2 to 3 de-seeded and cut into small pieces

Curry leaf - 4 to 5 leaves

Cilantro - a few leaves ( without the stem)

Rice flour ( optional) - 1 to 2 tbsp

Baking soda - 1 pinch

Water

Oil - 2 to 3 cups for frying

Ziploc bag, or plastic wrap ( in India we use a banana leaf)- used to form the vadas

Instructions:

1. Wash the urad dal and then soak it in water until completely submerged. Soak for at least 3 to 4 hours
2. Drain the water out
3. Grind the urad dal without adding too much water - add a few tablespoons to begin with and grind ( you can use a blender or a Indian wet grinder).
4. Grind until it is a smooth fluffy paste.
5. Pour into a bowl and mix it with your hands or a spoon for a few minutes to make it airy
6. Add the cut onion, ginger, chillies, curry leaf, cilantro, baking soda to the batter. Optional : You can add a few tablespoons of rice flour, this makes the vada crispy 
7. Heat oil to 375 F ( in fryer) , if using a saucepan heat up oil- and test the temperature - it is at the correct temperature when you add a little glob of batter to the oil and it turns golden brown and rises up slowly. ( note : oil is too hot if the the batter gets black and rises up too fast , too cold if the batter sticks to the bottom). Turn down the heat to medium.
8. Add a little oil to the ziploc bag and spread it around in a thin film. Take the batter and place it on there and flatten it. Make a small hole in the middle to resemble a donut.
   
   
   
9. Slide the vada slowly into oil. Fry until golden brown and turn it over to make sure both sides are cooked until golden brown.
10. Take the vada out with a skimmer ( app on with holes) to drain the oil and place in a plate lines with paper towels to drain the oil.
11. Vada is ready to serve with coconut chutney (coconut chutney)