Spicyana

Rasa Vada for JFI-Dal

Thank you Sailu for hosting this months event and selecting a most appropriate theme.

My entry for this month’s JFI-Dal, is Rasa Vada, crispy fried chana dal ( split chick peas) patties soaked in spicy hot rasam, a recipe from my mother. One Sunday evening many years ago, when she announced that we are going to have Rasa Vadas for tea, my heart sunk thinking about the proverbial mixing of fire and water. We know what prevails!!!!! I was not really appreciative of the process of making a crunchy vada soggy by dipping in a very watery rasam. . Much to my dismay, she made a big pot of rasam, fried some vadas, and threw everything into the rasam pot, and then served it piping hot with chopped cilantro on top. One bite into it, I realized that kids do lack the worldly wisdom coming from experience. Quite contrary to my perception of this idea, Rasa Vada turned out good, so good that I still remember the taste, and when I was tagged for the --10 things you miss of your mother’s cooking-meme, I never hesitated for a moment to include this one in the list.

Simple ( no dal) Rasam

Cumin 1 ½ tsp
Coriander seeds 3/4 tsp
Red chilli 1
Garlic 3 pods crushed
Black peppercorns 3/4 tsp
Tomatoes – 2 ( each cut into 8 pieces)
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Tamarind ( in the size of one small lime)
Curry leaves 5-10nos
Asafoetida – 1 pinch
Jaggery – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 ½ tsp
Chopped cilantro 1 tsp

Dry grind Cumin, coriander seeds, black pepper, and chili. Soak tamarind in 1 ½ cups of water. Heat oil in a deep cooking vessel, splutter mustard seeds, add crushed garlic, curry leaves, ground spices, jaggery and Asafoetida. Sauté for a minute, add chopped tomato and stir well to mix. Stir in the tamarind water; add 2 more cups of water. Boil for 8-10 more minutes. Add chopped cilantro. Remove from fire. Keep it warm.

Parippu vada

2 cups chana dal (use toor dal if you prefer)

Finely Chopped ginger – 2 tbsp

Finely chopped Onions – 1 cup

Green chilly rounds - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 5-10 nos

Soak dal in water for 3-4 hrs, add salt and grind to a coarse paste. Add ginger, onions, chilies and curry leaves, keep for 10 minutes for the flavors to mix, form nice round patties using hand. Deep fry till golden brown, fry an extra minute taking care not to burn the vadas. Drain on paper towels.

Assembling rasa vadas

Arrange vadas on a baking dish and pour hot rasam on top. Let it soak for 10 minutes, serve garnished with chopped cilantro.

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