Masaal Vadai

Masaal Vadai evokes a very funny and obscure memory. Back home, these crispy, fragrant fritters are usually used as baits in mouse/rat traps. They are known to be excellent lures to capture the scraggly critters! And I vividly remember the time when there were quite a few vadais in my place, because we were trying to catch an elusive mouse. We didn’t get to eat any vadai, though. The mouse ate a few before it was finally trapped. It was then safely released into the wild. 

Although my mom has never made this kind of vadai, they are extremely popular in my city. Every other street corner would house a mobile frying station (a frying pot and accessories on wheels) that will dish out masaal vadais, pakodas, bajjis, etc. Totally unhealthy street food, but tempting nonetheless. Since I had my nose up in the air, I never had such street-food delicacies from street vendors - a regret. But, one of my mother’s aunts who is an excellent cook, used to prepare this for tiffin/snacks. I don’t think she remembers the day/s she made this for me when I stayed at her place, but I sure do, for I bugged her with questions and observed her making the vadais. And I told myself, someday, I would make them too. So, here I am. 

It’s simple to prepare (as I always mention). If I can do it, anybody can do it. 

Ingredients (makes around 15 small vadais)

1. 1 cup of Bengal gram dhal / kadala paruppu
2. ½ an onion, finely chopped
3. 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped
4. 1 teaspoon of finely minced ginger
5. ½ teaspoon of fennel seeds /sombu / saunf
6. 5-6 cardamoms (just the seeds inside and not the husk)
7. 4-5 cloves
8. couple of sprigs of coriander leaves
9. a few curry leaves
10. 1 teaspoon of salt
11. 4-5 cups of vegetable / sunflower / canola oil

Preparation:

1. Rinse the bengal gram dhal and soak it for 2-3 hours. 3 hours is ideal, for it grinds easier. When soaked sufficiently, drain all the water from the dhal and coarsely grind it with about 2 tablespoons of water (or lesser). Almost 50% of the dhal should remain whole, and the rest should be coarsely ground (as a reference, this should be slightly more coarse than the consistency of aama vadai batter).
2. Crush and powder the fennel seeds, cloves, and cardamom seeds.
3. To the ground batter, add the chopped onions, green chillies, ginger, cut coriander leaves, curry leaves, and the crushed powder consisting of fennel seeds, cloves and cardamom seeds. Mix well. Finally, add salt and mix. Taste, and adjust the ingredients to your liking.
4. Heat oil in a frying pot. When the hot is hot, take some batter, pat it to form a disc and drop into the hot oil. Fry till golden brown. Do not overcrowd the vadais while frying, since the onions bits may disintegrate faster. (there will be some residue in the oil after frying

Maasal vadais are crunchy and extremely flavorful due to the range of spices added. The traditional masaal vadai will be bigger and slightly flatter.