How to make a simple Sambar Vada recipe.

Sambar Vada Equipment:

Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes Soaking Time: 4 hours Total Time: 6 hours Course: Appetizer, Evening Tiffin, Snacks Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Brahmin, Tamil Nadu

Equipment Needed:

• Pressure Cooker
• Mixer Grinder
• Heavy-Bottomed Pan

Ingredients for Vada:

• 1 cup Urad Dal
• 2 tsp Raw Rice
• 4 Green Chili
• 2-inch Ginger
• 1 tsp Salt (adjust as needed)
• 1 cup Onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Coriander Leaves
• Few Curry Leaves
• 3 cups Oil for deep frying Vada

Ingredients for Sambar:

• 2 cups Yellow Pumpkin, chopped
• 1/3 cup Toor Dal (Pigeon pea)
• 1/4 cup Moong dal
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 Lemon-sized Tamarind
• 1 cup Shallots / Baby Onions
• 2 tsp Salt (adjust as needed)
• 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves for garnishing

Ingredients for Grinding:

• 2 tbsp Coriander Seeds
• 2 tbsp Split Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
• 1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 8 Red Chili
• 5-6 Shallots / Baby Onions
• 1 Tomato, chopped

Ingredients for Tempering:

• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
• 2 Red Chili
• Few Curry Leaves

Ingredients for Garnishing Sambar Vada:

• 2 tsp Ghee
• 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Onion, finely chopped

Sambar Vada Instructions:

1. Soaking Process for Vada:

Wash and soak the Urad Dal and rice together for about 4 hours.

1. Steps for Making Sambar:

• Cooking Dal and Pumpkin:

  • Take the chopped pumpkin in a vessel. Add moong dal and toor dal to the pumpkin.
  • Add turmeric powder and water and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

• Soaking Tamarind:

  • Soak Tamarind in warm water for about 10 minutes and extract the juice. Keep this aside.

• Preparing Grinding Ingredients:

  • Heat oil in a pan. Add coriander seeds, Bengal gram, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chili, and fry till the dal turns light brown.
  • Add shallots, tomato, and sauté for a minute, then switch off the flame. Allow these ingredients to cool off.

• Grinding Sambar Masala:

  • Take all the fried ingredients to the mixer jar and grind it to a paste by adding water.

• Sambar Vada Tempering Process:

• Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow them to sputter. Then add broken red chili and curry leaves. Mix well.
• Add shallots and sauté till translucent.
• Add the tamarind extract along with salt and boil for about 5 minutes to get rid of the raw smell of the tamarind juice.
• Add the ground spice paste and stir well. Allow the sambar to boil on low flame for about 5 minutes.
• Finally, add the cooked dal and pumpkin to the sambar, adjust the consistency by adding water, and adjust the salt as needed.

Boil the sambar for a minute, then switch off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. The Sambar for soaking Medhu Vada is ready

1. 1. Making Vada:

      • Grinding Vada Batter:

        • After 4 hours, drain water from the soaked urad dal. Add the urad dal into the mixer jar or wet grinder. Also, add green chili and ginger to the wet grinder.
        • Sprinkle water and grind the urad dal. Keep sprinkling water little by little until you get a smooth and fluffy batter. If using a wet grinder, it will automatically incorporate aeration in the batter and make it fluffy. If using a mixer jar, beat the batter for at least 5 minutes to incorporate aeration and make it fluffy.

      • Finishing Batter:

        • Take the batter in a mixing bowl. Add salt, curry leaves, chopped onions, and coriander leaves. Mix everything together. The vada batter is now ready!

      • Preparing Diluted Sambar:

        • Take 2 ladles of sambar in a broad vessel. Add 2 cups of boiling water and mix well. Also, add salt (1/2 teaspoon or less) and stir well. Keep this diluted sambar ready to soak the fried vada.

      • Deep Frying Process:

        • Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Test the readiness of the oil by adding a drop of batter to the hot oil. If it rises up immediately, the oil is ready. Keep the flame on low-medium.
        • Wet your palm. Take a lemon-sized ball of vada batter. Using your finger, make a hole in the center and drop it gently into the hot oil. Add 3-4 vada in a batch and deep fry on medium flame until golden brown on both sides.
        • When removing the fried vada from the oil, immediately soak them in the diluted sambar-hot water mixture and allow them to soak for about 3-4 minutes.
        • Remove the soaked sambar vadas to a separate plate or broad vessel and add the next batch of vada to the diluted sambar.
        • Repeat the above step until all the fried vada is soaked and taken into the vessel.

   2. Plating Sambar Vada:

      • Place 2 soaked vada in a bowl. Add hot sambar on top of the vada. Then garnish with ghee, coriander leaves, and finely chopped onions.
      • Delicious Sambar Vada is now ready to serve!

   Enjoy your flavorful and crispy Sambar Vada!