Vadai is popular and loved by all snacks. These deep-fried fritters are the best accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea. It becomes even more loved when the weather is cooler or rainy. The name Aama vadai literally translates into tortoise vadai. It is called so because this paruppu vadai is hard and crunchy on the outside just like the shell of the tortoise. So we have two different kinds of vadai. One is this aama vadai or chana da dal vadai made with chana dal, toor dal, and a little urad dal. the other one is Medhu vadai or Ullundhu vadai made with urad dal alone. I call this paruppu vadai the beginner vadai as it does not need special skills in grinding the batter or shaping the vada. Also, we make these two vadais on special occasions and each one is made for a specific festival or pooja.
What vadai to make?
I am sure many would often be confused about which occasions we make the paruppu vadai and which we make medhu vadai. So for any pandigai or festival, like Boghi, Tamil New Year, Karthigai deepam, and Avani avittam, we make this aama vadai. Any festival that has a pooja done like, varalakshmi nombu, pillayar Chaturthi, Pongal and so on we make the medhu vadai. One more easy way to remember as well what amma taught me is anytime we make poli, we make this paruppu vadai. That did the trick for me and so for the boghi festival this year, I made Puranam poli and aama vadai along with carrot kheer.
Why make this aama vadai?
Aama vadai is the easiest vadai recipe to ever make. It uses just the basic Indian pantry ingredients. A perfect paruppu vadai recipe for the beginners as it does not need any shaping skills. Tastes amazing with a cup of coffee and is a wonderful appetizer or finger snack to serve for parties. A great way to use lentils. Very versatile and can be modified into different flavors (check the recipe variations below). It’s Vegan and Gluten- free (skip the asafoetida as it could contain gluten).
Ingredients needed
Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable detailed recipes.
Lentils - We will be using three different dal for the paruppu vadai. More of chana dal (kadalai paruppu), a little less of toor dal (tuvaram paruppu) and very little urad dal (ullutham paruppu).
Chilies - I use both green and dry red chilies. It is a preference and if needed we can skip the green chilies and just use the dry red chilies.
Asafetida - If gluten-free skip the asafoetida.
Salt
Curry leaves
Oil - To deep fry. I either use vegetable oil or canola oil.
Step-by-step process
Wash the lentils well and soak them together for one to two hours. It is usually sufficient to soak it for an hour.
Drain the lentils in a colander after the soaking time and let them drain for a few minutes. I usually soak the lentils and then in an hour or so drain them in the colander and let them sit there until ready to grind.
Transfer the drained dal to the blender or food processor jar and grind it along with green chilies, red chilies, asafoetida, and salt. Add very little water when grinding. Also, make sure to grind the lentils coarse. I also keep a few whole lentils aside before grinding to add them to the batter.
Add the curry leaves to the vada batter and mix well.
In the meantime, heat oil to deep fry the aama vadai.
Once the oil is hot, add a small piece of vada batter to the oil to check if it is hot enough. The batter should rise up and slowly start crisping up. If the oil is too hot, then the vada will brown outside too quickly whereas the interior will still be uncooked. So the temperature of the oil is very important to make crispy aama vadai.
Take a small lemon size batter and slightly flatten it in your palm. Slowly slide the shaped paruppu vadai into the hot oil. Depending on the size of the frying pan, add a few more vadai into the oil without crowding.
Using a slotted spoon, flip the vadai and cook on both sides until golden brown.
Remove the cooked vadai and drain it in a paper towel-lined bowl.
Serve warm.
Serving suggestion
Vadai tastes amazing with a cup of hot filter coffee. If you are not a hot coffee person, then serve the chana dal vada with Iced Caramel Macchiato or Vietnamese Iced Coffee. If serving the paruppu vadai as an evening snack then make sure to make some delicious coconut mint chutney or some kara chutney
Variations of Paruppu Vadai
Since this aama vadai is made for festivals, we make it without onion or garlic. On a normal day, we can make the same paruppu vadai or chana dal vada with onion and a few other spices and make it Masala Vadai. Vazhaipoo vadai or Paruppu vadai with banana flower is a very popular snack in Tamil Nadu. We can add finely chopped banana flowers and make this aama vadai batter into vazhaipoo vadai. I love adding finely chopped cabbage to dal vadai. Cabbage vadai is one of my favorites when I can’t use onions. We can make the cabbage vadai in the air fryer as well and in the same way, we can make the aama vadai in the air fryer too.
Storage suggestion
Vadais are best when served hot. This is one of the best snacks that taste great right off the pan. In case we have to make it ahead of time, then we can reheat the aama vadai in the air fryer or oven before serving. Leftover vadais freezes great. During the festival time when making aama vadai with many other dishes, I always end up having leftovers. I freeze them and then use them later after heating them in the air fryer. The paruppu vadai comes out tasting just as fresh as just fried vadais.
More Vadai Recipes
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