Dal Vada Recipe, South Indian Masala Dal Vada Recipe

South Indian chana dal vada recipe is a crispy deep fried savory made from bengal gram. This crunchy and mildly spicy dumplings or vada are very popular in Southern India. Chana dal vada are one of my favorite vada recipe that I remember since childhood days. In Chennai you will find these vada being served by eating joints across streets. Thus its a popular street food recipe in southern india. I used to enjoy these delicious crispy masala dal vadai during my college days. In our canteen these dal vada were served along with traditional south indian coconut chutney. Also if you travel in train in Southern India you’ll definitely find these vada.

Chana dal vada are quite easy to make. For pre-preparation we just need to soak the chana dal in water so that it gets softens. Then simply grind it along with other ingredients. I have added a little samolina or suji / rava in this chana dal vada recipe. That way the vada will become crispier. Also lot of people don’t add mint in these vada however I like the minty flavor that you get with every bite and hence I add mint to this dal vada recipe.

Along with dal vada, medu vada are also popular in India. These doughnut shaped crispy vadas are often served with sambar. Other popular vada recipes are rasam vada, sambar vada etc.

You can store these chana dal vada in an air tight container for around 1-2 days. Thus it makes a great snack dish for long distance train journey / travel (related: methi thepla for travel).

Lets check now the recipe of South Indian chana dal vada with step by step pictures.

Step by step Dal Vada Recipe (South Indian Style)

To make this delicious South Indian style chana dal vada recipe we will need following ingredients. Bengal gram (chana dal),  samolina or sooji / rava, mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies, garlic, ginger, onion, curry leaves, fennel seeds (saunf) and salt as per your taste.

Wash and soak the chana dal in water for 2 hours or until it becomes soft. That way it would be easy to grind. Also peel off the garlic cloves and remove skin of ginger. Slit the green chilies and remove its seeds. Also we will add onions to this recipe so finely chop the onions.

Now take soaked chana dal, garlic, ginger, fennel seeds, green chilies and curry leaves in a food processor jar or mixture grinder jar.

Grind all ingredients into coarse mixture as shown here. Let some of the chana daal remains intact.

Now let us prepare the chana dal vada mixture. For this take the dal mixture that we made in above steps in a mixing bowl.  Add finely chopped onions, samolina or rava, coriander leaves, mint leaves and salt as per your taste.

Combine well all the ingredients and prepare mixture for chana dal vada. The mixture is already moist hence we don’t need to add extra water.

Now take a portion of dal vada mixture in hand and press against palm to make flat circular disc around 2 to 3 inch in diameter as shown here. Make similar vadas from remaining dal vada mixture.

For deep frying the dal vada heat around 3 cups of oil in a deep bottom frying pan / kadhai and once the oil is hot fry the dal vada.

Fry the dal vada on both sides till they turn golden brown in color.

Once the vada looks crispy and fried remove them on absorbent paper or paper napkin.

Crispy and delicious chana dal vada (south indian) is ready to serve. Serve the vada hot along with coconut chutney or green coriander chutney.

Dal Vada Recipe (South Indian Style)