Beetroot vadai / Beetroot Lentil Fritters
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16
 
Ingredients
  • • Channa Dal – 1 cup
  • • Shallots/Small onions – 1 cup, chopped
  • • Red Chillies – 3, broken
  • • Beetroot – 2, small, grated
  • • Curry leaves – 1 sprig
  • • Green Chillies – 2
  • • Fennel seeds/ Soambu – 1 tsp
  • • Ginger – 1 inch piece
  • • Garlic – 6 cloves
  • • Rice flour – 2 tbsp
  • • Salt – 1 ½ tbsp
Instructions
  1. Soak channa dal with red chillies for an hour.
  2. First grind ginger, chillies, garlic and fennel coarsely in a blender jar.
  3. Drain channa dal completely and keep aside 5-6 chana dal whole. And blend the rest of the soaked dal with the ginger paste in the same blender jar. Do not add water at all when you blend the dal.
  4. Mix the blended batter with finely chopped onion, grated beetroot , coriander, salt, rice flour and curry leaves.
  5. Heat oil in pan/kadai.
  6. Meanwhile Keep a bowl with water and wet both hands. Make equal sized balls first for uniform sized vadas. Shape each ball to flat patties of medium thickness.
  7. The oil should be hot and when it is hot, Drop the vadas. Simmer the heat and deep fry them in hot oil until golden brown in color, flipping once in between. It is always good to cook in medium flame to ensure even cooking and golden red colour.
Notes
1. Make sure not to add water while grinding.
2. Make sure to soak vada for three to four hours. It is hard to grind them otherwise and also if it is not soaked well, it may turn hard and too crisp.
3. Rice flour helps to make it crispier. It is optional. You can soak 1 spoon for rice with the dal and grind instead.
4. Garlic is optional too.
5. Shallots can be replaced with normal red/white onions. But shallots give great texture and flavor.
Recipe by Relish The Bite at https://www.relishthebite.com/beetroot-vadai-beetroot-lentil-fritters/