RASAM VADA

 Hello everyone, hope you are having an incredible day today. Today, I am sharing how to make the a special dish , udpi style RASAM VADA. One of my most favourite recipes. I think this is the right time (season )to share the Rasam Vada recipe with you all.  Rasam Vada is a popular snack or starter which is filling and light on the stomach. You can’t eat breakfast at night or dinner in the afternoon – but snacks? that you can eat anytime of the day! Along with tea, after school or at a birthday party – snacks are every foodie’s ultimate favourite. Rasam is one of the healthiest South Indian dishes you will ever have.This dish is incomplete without rasam powder. You can easily get rasam powder at any local store or online. But for this recipe,  the Rasam Powder recipe I used here is completely homemade and so do check the recipe of how to make perfect rasam on my blog. Vadas are made crisp and soaked or dunked in spicy hot rasam. Healthy snacking is the best way to satisfy your munchies without the worry of to many added calories. Udpi style Rasam Vada is one of the most favoured of current trending foods in the world.  It is accepted by millions everyday. It is simple but something different, extremely crunchy with a wow taste factor. The same vada you can have with Sambar too. So that’s your 2 in 1 recipe. So enjoy.

Take care while preparing these and follow the steps given down below. Scroll down to the notes section to read out the tips. Enjoy your weekend with this Rasam Vada.

INGREDIENTS:

For RASAM :

1 small Lemon Size Tamarind

3 Tomatoes, medium size

2 tablespoon Tuwar Dal [pigeon pea]

1 teaspoon Salt [according to your taste]

1 sprig Curry Leaves

1 pinch Asafoetida

Chopped Coriander Leaves

Ingredients For Grinding: (RASAM MASALA POWDER ) :

1 teaspoon Ghee

2 teaspoon Coriander seeds

2 teaspoon Tuwar Dal

1 teaspoon Peppercorns

1 -2 Dry Red Chillies [adjust your spice level]

2 Kashmiri Red Chillies [optional for colour]

1 sprig Curry leaves

½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds

Ingredients for Tempering :

1 teaspoon Mustard Seeds

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

Few Curry leaves

1 teaspoon Ghee

For Vada :

1 Cup  Urad Dal / White Lentil 

Water  (for soaking & grinding)

2 tablespoon  Rice flour 

1/2 inch Ginger , grated 

2 Green Chillies, chopped finely

few Curry leaves  (finely chopped)

1/2 Cup freshly grated Coconut

2 tablespoon Coriander  (finely chopped)

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Oil  (for frying)

METHOD : 

Let’s Make The Rasam Masala Powder:

STEP 1 – Heat a pan on low flame, add ghee and the grinding ingredients. Do not add cumin seeds.

STEP 2 – Roast it till the dal turns golden brown in colour.

STEP 3 – Transfer the roasted ingredients in a plate and let them cool. Add cumin seeds and curry leaves to it.

STEP 4 – After cooling completely, add the ingredients to mixer pot and grind to a fine powder. Keep it aside.

Preparation For Making Rasam:

STEP 1 – Soak the tamarind in water and extract the juice.

STEP 2 – Wash and soak the tuwar dal for 15-20 minutes.

STEP 3 - Then pressure cook the tuwar dal for 2 whistles.

STEP 4 – Cool completely and then mash dal nicely and keep it aside.

STEP 5 – Cut 1 tomato finely and puree remaining 2 tomatoes. Keep them aside.

How to Proceed:

STEP 1 – In a vessel, add tamarind juice/ pulp along with chopped tomato, salt, curry leaves and asafoetida and mix well.

STEP 2 – Add tomato puree to the mixture and mix it well. Keep it on the flame.

STEP 3 – Allow the rasam to boil for about 5 minutes on medium flame or till the raw smell of the tamarind goes off.

STEP 4 – Add smashed dal and mix well. Now mix 2 cups of water and allow the rasam to cook for about 5-6 minutes on a low to medium flame.

STEP 5 – Finally, add ground masala powder and mix well and when the rasam gets froth, remove from flame. No need to boil at this stage.

For the tempering :

STEP 1 – Heat small tempering pan with ghee. Then add few curry leaves, mustard seeds and let them crackle.

STEP 2 – Add this tempering to the rasam and mix well. Garnish with chopped coriander.

STEP 3 – Your rasam is ready, Keep this aside.

For  Making Crispy Vada :

STEP 1 - Wash and soak 1 cup urad dal in 3 cups of water for 1½ hours.

STEP 2 - Rinse thoroughly and drain the water. 

STEP 3 - Transfer the soaked urad dal to a blender or food processor.

STEP 4 - Blend until a smooth, thick paste forms. Add only 2-3 teaspoon water while blending.

STEP 5 - Transfer the urad dal batter to a large mixing bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons rice flour. (I missed adding rice flour, so I added it later )

STEP 6 - Mix well making sure everything is well combined.

STEP 7 - Use your hands and beat the batter. To make it more easy and fast, I have used a hand beater. We need to beat it for atleast 2-3 minutes. It helps the batter to become airy and light. (see notes ) 

STEP 8 - Add grated ginger and chillies, a few chopped curry leaves, grated coconut,  chopped coriander and salt. (added rice flour )

Again whisk it for a minute and your batter is ready. (see notes )

STEP 9 - Heat sufficient oil in a pan. 

STEP 10 - Now, dampen your hands in water, shape the batter into small balls with finger tips and drop into the hot oil while the flame is set to medium.

STEP 11 - Fry the vada on medium heat until golden and crisp.

STEP 12 - Drain the vada on kitchen paper / absorbent paper, to remove the excess oil.

STEP 13 - Ready to serve. 

STEP 14 - Finally, put hot rasam in a serving bowl, put few number of vadas in it and garnish it with some chopped coriander and grated coconut and relish.  

Serve it hot with a cup of tea or filter coffee.

NOTES : * The batter looks so thick before beating. After beating, it becomes more light and airy.

* After beating the batter, avoid mixing the batter with a spoon. Let it be the way it is. It helps to retain the batter airy.

* It's totally optional to use hand beater.

* Drop the vada into the hot rasam right away or soak for 2 hours, or until the vada has absorbed all  of the rasam.

 * Do not add more water while grinding urad dal as we need a thick batter.

* Adding ghee while tempering enhances the taste.

* Cook vada on medium flame after dropping the vada in hot oil. Otherwise, it wont get cooked inside properly.

* You can use store bought rasam powder (2 tsp) in place of freshly ground in case you are lazy to grind powder.