Whether it is an adult or a child most of them will always be picky when it comes to eating. It’s difficult to have a variety of dishes when your schedule is busy. During the weekdays people tend to choose dishes that can be prepared within minutes. However, it is during your week off, and holidays you get time to prepare something special for your family and perhaps invite your friends to show off your culinary skills. Apart from a variety of chutneys the state of Tamil Nadu is well known for curries. One of the curries is vada curry. It does take about 30-40 minutes for preparation. However, once all the prep-work is done, you can cook the curry in minutes. Vada is usually consumed as a breakfast or a snack. Vada curry is a unique dish that you can relish with rice or roti (flatbreads).
Health benefits
Chickpeas or chana dal is very low in fat and sodium, high in protein, iron, vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants, and it is gluten-free. According to Healthline, a recent study on people trying to lose weight found that those who ate a serving of pulses like chickpeas daily lost a 3/4th pound more than people who didn’t include pulses in their diet.
Ingredients
1/2 cup chana dal/ chickpea
4 red chilies
1 tsp fennel
2 onions, finely chopped
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt as per taste
2 sprigs mint leaves
1 bunch coriander leaves, small
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tbsp oil
1 cinnamon stick
1 cardamom
1 clove
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin seeds
How To Make Vada Curry
- Soak chana dal for 3 hours. Drain the water.
- Grind chili, fennel, and Add the chana dal and grind coarsely.
- Grease idli plates and fill the shapes with the ground mixture. Steam cook for 8 minutes.
- Once it cools down, break it into smaller pieces
- Fry the cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, cloves and bay leaf. Add one ingredient at a time.
- Add the onion and fry until the onions are golden brown.
- Add ginger garlic paste and saute for one minute on a medium flame.
- Add finely chopped tomatoes and red chili powder, coriander powder, and turmeric powder.
- Add salt as per taste for the gravy. Sauté for a minute or until the spices are mixed.
- Add 3 cups of
- Once the water boils and add the mashed dal.
- Cook in low flame for ten minutes.
- The oil will float on the top of the pan, and the gravy will be thicker.
- Turn off the flame. Garnish with chopped coriander and mint leaves.
Tip: You can also prepare vada curry with left over vadas.
Trivia
Chickpeas likely originated in the Middle East. They have a strong texture with a flavor somewhere between chestnuts and walnuts. Garbanzo beans are mostly pale yellow in color.