This crispy vada is our family favorite. Vadas are nothing but South Indian style fritters. They are mostly made of different varieties of dal. This particular vada recipe has a unique taste coming from the fresh green bell peppers & peanuts. The combination of both these with gram dal might seem odd, but believe me, they taste too good (even if this requires just a handful of ingredients) ! So here goes…
Capsicum Vadas
Crispy dal and capsicum fritters!
- 1.5 cups bengal gram (split (chana dal))
- 2-3 fresh green chillies (or more of course if you want it spicy)
- a pinch of asafoetida/ hing (optional)
- salt to taste
- 2 medium capsicum
- 1/4 cup peanuts/ groundnuts
- oil to deep fry
- Wash the dal & soak for an hour or so. Drain & then grind it in a mixer coarsely along with salt, chillies, hing without adding water. You need to get a thick paste/ batter here. Do not grind to a fine paste. You need to retain some bits of the dal to get crispy vadas
- Finely chop the capsicum into tiny bits. Roast the groundnuts & cool a bit & grind to a almost fine powder. You can leave it slightly coarse.
- Transfer the thick batter into a mixing bowl & add the capsicum, powdered groundnuts. Adjust the salt.
- Take a small portion of the batter & flatten a bit & deep fry in hot oil over medium flame till golden brown. You can fry 5-6 vadas at a time depending on the size of you frying pan. Drain on absorbent paper & serve hot!
- This vada/ fritter is perfect as an evening snack or as accompaniment to rice meals!