Aama Vadai / Indian Lentil Fritters

Vadais are crispy lentil-based fritters. There are several versions, one of which I’ve written about here. The other common vadai that is made during special occasions is the aama vadai. It is made with a mix of pulses and lentils that are relatively coarsely ground to make for a crispy texture. 

My mom makes the world's best vadais! So, I learned to make these from her.

Please refer to the Glossary if you'd like more information on the Indian ingredients listed here

Ingredients (yields about 28 vadais)

1. 1.5 cups of bengal gram dal / kadala paruppu / channa dal
2. 1/4 cup of toor dal / thuvaram paruppu / yellow lentils
3. 2 tablespoons grated coconut (to make the fritters extra crispy)
4. 1 teaspoon of salt
5. 2-3 dry red chillies
6. ½ teaspoon of hing / asafoetida
7. a few torn curry leaves
8. a small plastic sheet (optional) to form the vadais
9. 3 - 4 cups of vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparation

1. Soak the bengal gram and toor dal for 4 hours.
2. Drain the soaked dals. Coarsely grind them with salt, red chillies, and asafoetida with 2 to 3 tablespoons of water or lesser if your mixer/food processor/grinder can handle it.
3. The resulting batter should be coarse and thick. A coarse batter results in crispier vadais. Mix the curry leaves and coconut into the batter. Mix in the coconut just before frying. The batter stores well in the fridge for a few days. So you can make the batter ahead of time.
4. Heat oil in a frying pot on medium-high heat. Drop a bit of batter into the oil and test if it begins to sizzle and fry. If so, the oil is hot enough. Gradually reduce the heat to medium to avoid unevenly cooking the vadais.
5. Take a small amount of batter and form into a fat disc. Transfer to the oil. Gently turn it around in the oil till it fries uniformly to a crisp golden brown. Make sure you reduce the oil temperature if the exterior of the vadai begins to brown really quickly. Remove the fried vadai and drain on paper towels.
6. Repeat step 6 until the batter finishes.

These vadais have more crunch and texture to them due to the whole bengal-gram dal and coconut - my mom's secret ingredient! I think the degree to which the batter should be coarse is a matter of preference and family tradition. The degree of coarseness of the batter doesn’t really affect the taste of the vadais. Cardinal rule - it’s highly unlikely for a deep-fried dish to taste bad.