Rasa Vada

I had previously posted about Parippu Vada made with Toor dal. Usually Parippu Vada is made with Channa dal. One popular snack in Kerala is to soak these vadas in hot rasam, allow the vada to soften for a few minutes and have it with a spoon in the same bowl with rasam.

Its been a long time since I had rasa vada. As far as I can remember the last time I had it might have been during my school days. I made these recently when V was working from home.


Ingredients:

For vada
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Channa dal: 1 cup
Green chilli: 2-3 cut into thin round slices
Onion: 1 medium size, chopped up finely
Curry leaves chopped finely (optional)
Ginger: cut into thin small slices- 2 teaspoons
Salt: to taste
Oil: to deep fry the vadas
Water to soak channa dal

Rasam:

Any rasam powder available in Indian grocery stores or -->Make your own: Roast 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds (methi) , mustard seeds, whole black pepper, hing (asafoetida), toor dal, 5 dry red chillies together on medium flame for 1 minute. Powder them in a spice grinder.

Water: Enough to soak the vadas
Salt: to taste
Mustard seeds: 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds: 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves (optional): 2-3 leaves
Dry red chillies: 2
Crushed tomato (optional): 2 tablespoons
Tamarind juice: 1 tablespoon

Method:

For making vada:

Soak the channa dal in enough water for at least 5 hours or until the channa dal can be broken into two by using your nails. Drain all the water after soaking. Grind it into a fine paste without any water (it need not be too fine, a little coarse texture doesn't matter). Mix it with the rest of the ingredients for vada, except oil. Take a small ball and shape it to form a small disc as shown in the pictures. Then deep fry in oil until bubbles reduce in the oil.

For rasam:

Heat sufficient water in a vessel for, add crushed tomato, and rasam powder, tamarind juice . Cook the tomatoes well. You may optionally add some garlic cloves to the rasam. Add salt. Switch off when tomatoes are cooked. Heat a little oil in a tampering vessel, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chillies and wait for mustard seeds to splutter, then add curry leaves and add this tampering to the rasam. Add the vadas to the rasam.

When the vadas are soft, break them using a spoon and have it in the same bowl with rasam.