Paruppu vadai - Masala vada - South-indian recipe

Preparation time : 15 mins
Cook time : 15 mins

Paruppu vadai is a very popular snack in south- india. It can be served with hot cup of tea or as a side- dish for sambar rice or any south- indian meal. During my childhood days i am not much fond of masala vada, i used to ignore always. Masala vada is my hubby's fav, often i used to prepare whenever the climate is too chill, rainy or for any occassions. Left over vadas can be used for making vada curry :-) Do try dis recipe and let me know how it turned out !!!

Ingredients needed :

Channa dal/ Bengal gram/ Kadalai paruppu - 3/4 cup
Red chillies - 3
onion - 1
Garlic cloves - 4- 5
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Salt as needed
oil for frying

Preparation :

1. Soak channa dal in water for 3-4 hours. Once it is done drain the water completely.
2. Grind channa dal along with red chillies, garlic cloves and ginger coarsely without adding water into it.
3. Transfer the grounded mixture into a bowl, add in the finely chopped onions, finely chopped curry leaves, coriander leaves, salt and combine it well.

Method :

Heat oil in a pan( to check if the oil is hot enough to drop vadas, add a small pinch of batter if it raises surface immediately, then it is the right stage to fry vadas). Take a lemon sized ball of the mixture, flatten it gently with your hands and flip it into the oil.

keep it in medium flame and fry the vadas both the sides, until it turns golden and crisp. Repeat the process for rest of the mix.

Serve it with a cup of hot tea !!!

Tips :

• Fennel seeds adds more flavor to vadas, i dint use it here. you can use fennel seeds in grinding part.
• In case if there is moisture and unable to shape out of the mixture, add a little besan/ Bengal gram flour to the vada mix , so that it absorbs moisture.
• You can either grind the red chillies along with the mixture or chop the red chillies and add directly into the mix.

Yields : 14 vadas

How to make panner at home- Homemade panner

Preparation time : 5 mins
Cook time : 10 mins

Panner is a fresh, unsalted cheese. Very easy to make at home. Panner has mild milky flavour and dense crumbly texture, that goes beautifully well with strong spicy flavours in classic dishes :-)You can buy panner at stores these days, but home-made panner tastes much more fresh. All you need is a pot, a sieve, muslin cloth and you are ready to go ...........

Ingredients needed :

Milk - 1 litre
Fresh lemon juice - 2 - 2 1/2 tbsp

Method :

Pour milk into a pan and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and slowly add the lemon juice to it, stirring the whole time. It should start to curdle straight away. Remove it from the heat and leave it to stand for 5 mins.

Line a sieve with large piece of muslin cloth and place it over a bowl. Carefully pour the mixture into the sieve to collect the curds in the muslin cloth. place it under the cold running water to get rid of any leftover whey. Gather the muslin cloth in your hand and squeeze out the excess liquid.

Leave the muslin in sieve and press the bundle by putting some weight on it. Alternatively you can tie and hang it to a handle or sink tap. Leave it till all the liquids drip by itself completely. Then place muslin bundle in fridge to set for an hour or so. Cut into cubes.

It's simple as that - you now have fresh panner and ready to use in favourite dish.