THAVALA VADAI

Hi friends,
Thavala vadai is a famous fried doughnut recipe made in the thanjavur district of the south-Indian state of Tamilnadu. It is a healthy and nutritious recipe. It can be had as an evening snack or as part of a meal.

INGREDIENTS:

• Chana dal Or kadalai paruppu - 1/4 cup 
• Toor dal or split pigeon peas - 1/4 cup
• Moong dal or split, dehusked green gram - 1/4 cup
• Urad dal or black gram - 1/4 cup 
• Raw rice (flour rice) - 1/4 cup
• Dry Red Chillies -  6 to 9 numbers ; (depending on the desired level of spiciness required)
• Jeera or  cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Saunf or fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• Ginger - 1 inch,  roughly chopped
• Garlic - 6 cloves, roughly chopped
• Asafetida - 1 tsp
• Onion - 1,  medium sized, finely chopped
• Curry leaves - a handful, roughly chopped
• Salt as required
• Water - to soak the chana dal or kadalai paruppu
• Coconut - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

METHOD:

• Soak all the dals separately in water for 1-1.5 hour
• Also soak the raw rice in water for 5 minutes
• Dry it out slightly on a kitchen towel
• Grind it in a mixer grinder  into a coarse powder
• Keep aside
• After 1 hour drain off the water
• Grind the soaked chana dal and toor dal in a mixer grinder along with jeera, saunf, dry Red Chillies, ginger, garlic, asafoetida and salt
• Grind to a course paste in a mixer grinder 
• Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl
• Then, add half the quantity of  the soaked moong dal to this mixture
• Grind the remaining moong dal in a mixer grinder into a coarse paste
• Add it to the already prepared mixture in the mixing bowl
• Now, grind the urad dal in a mixer grinder into a smooth paste by adding a little water
• Add it to the dal mixture in the mixing bowl
• Mix well
• Add the coarsely ground rice powder
• Mix well
• Add the onions, coconut and curry leaves
• Mix well
• Keep it aside for 3-4 hours
• After 4 hours, the mixture will be thicker since the raw rice would have absorbed all the water
• Divide the mixture into small portions
• Make round balls from the small portions (you can wet your palms before making the balls)
• Gently flatten the ball in the centre to get the desired shape of a vadai
• Heat oil in a kadai
• Drop the vadais in hot oil
• Deep-fry the vadais till they turn golden brown
• Remove from oil
• Place it on a kitchen tissue (paper towel) to drain off the excess oil
• Serve hot

Tips:

• Ideally, the thanjavur Thavalai vadai does not have a hole in the centre, but you can make a hole in the centre if you want it to be very crispy.

Please do try this recipe and enjoy the art of cooking!!!
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