Crunchy Mint Vadai / Pudina Vadai

Made these crunchy and flavourful mint vadas on the day of Tamil New Year 2013. Have been trying to post the recipe of this vadai since then but it got materialised only today. What is different from the regular paruppu vadai? A question may arise in your mind. I made this mint vadai only with Split Pea Lentil and little bit of Moong Dal and with a cup of fresh mint / pudina leaves.  Thanks to my efforts on grinding, the vadas came out pretty much dry and crispy. Needless to say that there were none left in the serving plate for me to munch while cleaning the leftovers.!!!

 

Ingredients

Split Pea Lentil - 1.5 cups

Moong Dal / Payatham Paruppu - 1 Handful

Green Chili - 1 Big

Dry Red Chillies - 2 Medium

Fresh Pudina Leaves chopped - 3/4 th of a cup.

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - To Taste

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Grated Ginger - 2 tsp

Sombu / Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Oil - Enough for frying the vadas.

 

Method

• Soak the Split Pea Lentil and Moong Dal together for 2 hours. Add a handful of Split Pea lentil just before grinding into the soaked lentils.
• Grind them coarsely along with all the other ingredients except pudina / mint leaves. Add salt only during the last grinding cycle.
• Add little water while grinding enough to grind the mixture coarsely. Add the fresh pudina leaves to the grounded dal mixture.
• Heat the oil under medium flame. When its heated, fry the vadas till they become golden brown on medium flame.
• Complete the process for the remaining vada batter and enjoy the crispy, mint flavoured vadas.

Tips / Variations

• Don't grind the vada batter to a fine paste.
• Do not add coriander leaves or curry leaves while making these vadas. Somehow I prefer to enjoy only the unique mint flavour in this vadai.
• Handful of split pea lentils that are added just before grinding makes it even more tastier.