keerai vadai with urad dal, how to make keerai vadai recipe

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Keerai vadai

Keerai vadai, a crispy savory South Indian snack, made with black gram dal, greens and chilies that’s served with coconut chutney

keerai vadai
keerai vadai

Keerai vadai makes for a perfect festive dish to celebrate Ugadi, the Telugu New Year which falls on April 8th, 2016. Keerai vadai is a urad dal based deep-fried crispy appetizer that has a variety of greens going into it. Vadai is a distinct food of South Indian culture. Keerai in Tamil means ‘green leafy vegetable’ and vadai or vada means ‘savory doughnut”. In Telugu, vadai go by the name ‘garelu’.

In South India, especially in Tamil Nadu, you will find a number of street vendors and tiffin centers selling these addictive snacks during the morning and evening hours. People flock around the hawker as he churns out these savory snacks in a large wide cooking vessel, piping hot off the stove. He serves the keerai vadai with a runny chutney that is usually coconut based. I have savored these during my trips down South in popular tiffin centers but the best keerai vadai that I ever tasted was at Tirumala, abode of Lord Balaji. The street hawker was right across the street we were staying and his keerai vadai were sold within minutes of preparing them. I watched the cook prepare them with such ease and I was also lucky to get the authentic keerai vadai recipe from her. She insisted that I should use all the greens/herbs mentioned in the recipe and not skimp on any one of them to savor the true flavor of keerai vadai.

The flavors and texture of keerai vadai will vary from hawker to hawker based on the ingredients that go into its making. Some hawkers shape the keerai very flat while few shape them into thicker vadai. I like them flat and crisp. The flatter the vadai is shaped, the crisper the vadai. Heat control is equally important to produce a crispy outer layer with a soft moist centre. I love the simplicity of this dish which relies mostly on greens, ginger and green chilies.

keerai vadai recipe
keerai vadai recipe

Follow this the step by step traditional, hotel style, recipe for keerai vadai or keerai medu vadai.

Basically, you need to use good quality whole, without skin, black gram dal aka urad dal. Wash and soak the urad dal in enough water for at least 2 to 3 hours. Rinse again and drain the water and coarsely grind the dal adding very little ice cold water in a mixer grinder. You should not use more than 4 or 5 tablespoons of ice cold water. It should not be a smooth paste. Grind coarsely such that bits of dal is visible and the batter has a rough texture. Add finely chopped onions, ginger, green chilies, spinach, coriander, mint leaves and salt. I have used spinach but you can use amaranth leaves as well. Beat the ground mixture with your hand for a minute for aeration.

Wet your hand with water and shape a large ball of the urad dal mixture.

keerai vadai urad daleasy keerai vadai
ground urad dal with spinach, onions, green chilies, fresh coriander, mint

Flatten the shaped ball on a plastic sheet or banana leaf that has been moistened with water. It should not be more than 1/4″ thick and ensure that the outer edge of the vadai is very thin compared to the center. Make a hole in the center.

Heat enough oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. Once the oil turns hot, carefully place the shaped vadai in the hot oil. Do not add more than 2 or 3 vadai at a time as we do not want to overcrowd the vessel. Reduce flame to medium high and leave them undisturbed for a little less than two minutes. Slowly flip them over and cook till it browns. Towards the end of the cooking process, increase flame to high and allow them to turn crisp and golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon onto a serving plate. Prepare keerai medu vadai with the rest of the batter in the same manner.

keerai medu vadaicrispy keerai vadai
shaping keerai medu vadai and deep frying the vadai

I served keerai vadai with hotel style coconut chutney and tiffin sambar for breakfast. If you are looking for a protein-rich vegetarian or vegan starter, then keerai vadai is the go-to snack. It makes for an irresistible snack when served with tomato ketchup and masala chai. They also make for a great lunch or tiffin box item. You should be bookmarking this recipe as it will surely make a fantastic festive dish this Ugadi.

how to make keerai vadai
how to make keerai vadai

For festivals like Navratri, Varalakshmi vratham or while fasting, one can make the keerai vadai without onions.

How to make keera vadai at home

Keerai vadai

  Prepare time:  Cook:  Serves: 12  Cuisine: south indian breakfast,easy-vegetarian-recipes,snack,snacks,spinach,urad dal,vada-recipe,vadai,vegan_recipe,All Recipes,Festival Foods,Indian Breakfast Recipes,Indian Festivals,Indian Lentil Recipes,Indian Snacks and Starter Recipes,Indian Vegan Recipes,Indian Vegetarian Recipes,Lunch Box Recipes,Navratri Recipes,South Indian Recipes
5 stars based on 5 reviews

 Ingredients

  •   Urad dal 1 1/2 cups, soak in water for 2 to 3 hours
  •   Onion 1, medium, finely chopped
  •   Spinach 1/3 cup, chopped and packed OR amaranth leaves/thotakura
  •   Fresh coriander leaves 1/3 cup, chopped and packed
  •   Fresh mint leaves 1/3, cup, chopped and packed
  •   Curry leaves 1/4, cup, chopped and packed
  •   Green chilies 4, finely chopped
  •   Ginger 1" knob, finely minced
  •   Cumin 1/2 tsp (optional)
  •   Salt to taste
  •   Oil for deep frying

Method for making Keerai vadai

  1. Drain the water from the soaked urad dal and grind to a coarse paste adding very little water, approx 4-5 tbsps only. You should feel small bits of dal in the batter.

  2. Place the ground urad dal in a large bowl. Add the chopped onions, green chilies, ginger, spinach, coriander, mint and curry leaves. Add salt and beat the mixture with you hand for a minute.

  3. Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed vessel. Wet your hand in water, take a large ball of the urad dal mixture in your hand and place it on a moistened plastic sheet. Shape into a flat vadai and make a hole in the center.

  4. Carefully place the shaped vadai in the hot oil. Reduce flame to medium high and make one or two more vadai in the same manner and place in the hot oil. Cook on medium high heat on both sides. You can increase flame towards the end of the cooking process and cook the vadai till crisp and golden brown.

Tips

  •   A tip I'd like to share regarding the shaping of the vadai. After making a ball of the batter, place this ball batter on the moistened plastic sheet with a throwing action. This will help thin out the batter evenly on the sheet. Now shape it further and make a hole in the center.
  •   Add salt and onions to the batter just before frying the vadai.
  •   Once you grind the urad dal, use it immediately to make vadai. Otherwise refrigerate it till you use it to make vadai.
  •   To test if the oil is hot or not, drop a small ball of batter in the hot oil. If it sizzles and floats up, it means the oil is ready for deep frying.
  •   The batter should not be runny. It should be thick and aerated.
By Published: Keerai vadai, an easy, crispy Indian snack made with urad dal, spinach & fresh coriander. How to make keerai vadai recipe or Tamil Nadu keerai medu vadai