Vada kari - Lentil Curry Recipe

Vadakari - Lentil Curry

By shriya on Aug 17, 2008 in Best of ST, Breakfast Menu, Featured, Veggie Entrées & Sides

When I was in India Vadakari used to be in our breakfast menu atleast twice in a month. It is one of my favorite sides with idli . But I never got a chance to get the recipe and live demo from my mom. After I got married I came to know it is my hubby’s favorite too. I tried it a few times but it wasn’t even anywhere close to my moms recipe. My mother-in-law is in town and now she made this last month for us and I was like this is it! It was just my moms recipe and the same restaurant style taste that I used to crave for. And now I got the recipe and tried it last week by myself and it came out really good.

It is again one of the famous breakfast dishes in South India. There wouldn’t be a vegetarian restaurant in Tamilnadu without this in their menu. It’s a must have dish. My mouth is watering even as I am writing this recipe. Maybe I’ll make some tomorrow.

Ingredients:

Channa dal : 1 cup
Onion : 3
Tomatoes : 2
Whole red chili : 6
Ginger and garlic paste : 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp
Coriander powder : 1/2 tbsp
Red chili powder : 2 tbsp
Coconut milk : 1/4 cup (optional)
Curry Leaves : 8 to 9 springs
Bay leaves : 2
Cloves : 3
Cinnamon sticks : 1 small
Mint leaves : 1 tsp ( chopped)
Coriander leaves : 1 tsp(chopped)
Fennel seeds : 1tsp
Salt : required to taste

For seasonings:

Oil : 2tsp
Mustard seeds : 1 tsp
Fennel seeds : 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick : 1/4 inch
Curry leaves : few ( nos mentioned above)

Method of preparation :

Soak the channa dal for 3 to 4 hours and grind them coarsely with fennel seeds and whole red chilies into a thick coarse paste. (make sure its not a fine paste).
After that add half an onion (chopped) and curry leaves into the coarse paste, make small vadas (flattened lemon sized balls) out of it and fry it in oil (no need to deep fry it).
Heat oil in a kadai/pan, add cloves, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, remaining chopped onions and sautee it for few minutes till the onions become translucent.
After that add ginger & garlic paste and fry them until the raw smell goes off.
Now add the chopped tomatoes with coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, a glass of water and little salt. Then mix it all together and let it cook for 5 to 10 minutes under closed lid.
When its come to a full boil and cooked well, crush the fried vadas with your hands and add it into the gravy.
And add mint leaves and a tsp of coriander leaves, close the lid and let it cook for another 5 minutes in medium heat.
Finally add the coconut milk and boil it for another 3 minutes and remove from heat.
Heat oil in a pan, add the seasonings and when its sputter remove it from heat and put it into the curry as garnish.

Note:
Its best to add the vadas in to the curry when its hot so try to make the vadas when you have the curry going and ready to add the vadas.

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Tags: Breakfast Menu, veggie

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Posted on Sunday, August 17th, 2008 and is filed under Best of ST, Breakfast Menu, Featured, Veggie Entrées & Sides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

16 Responses to “Vadakari - Lentil Curry”

sireesha August 18th, 2008, 3:47 am

Delicious and yummy curry……Its new for me…Will try soon…
notyet100 August 18th, 2008, 11:21 am

guess ur posts not coming in toi,,,will add u in my blogroll…:-)
Shreya August 18th, 2008, 1:59 pm

Looks so delicious. love the pic..inviting…
meeso August 18th, 2008, 8:13 pm

Your description makes me crave this! It certainly looks awesome!
Cham August 18th, 2008, 9:23 pm

Hmm reminds Saidapet Vadai curry Looks heaven with idlis…
Lubna Karim August 19th, 2008, 7:53 am

Wow lentil curry never heard of it. Looks tempting.
Rashmi August 19th, 2008, 9:43 am

looks very yummy
Lavi August 19th, 2008, 2:40 pm

adding coconut milk is something that i got to try..we both love vadacurry..we prefer to eat it along with chapathi:)
Laavanya August 19th, 2008, 9:05 pm

I had this 8 yrs ago with some uthappam and absolutely loved it. Your picture is absolutely mouthwatering… hope to try the recipe some day.
Meera August 19th, 2008, 10:26 pm

That curry looks so fantastic!! Thanks for sharing.
mandira August 21st, 2008, 11:39 am

love the pic with the idlis… bet it tasted delicious too!
Lubna karim August 21st, 2008, 2:15 pm

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Sujatha August 21st, 2008, 4:42 pm

Vadakari looks awesome! My all time favorite for idlis and dosas.. I have the recipe posted in my blog too… Great recipe, Shriya!
Uma August 21st, 2008, 9:02 pm

what a delicious lentil curry! Looks beautiful.
Aartee August 25th, 2008, 11:10 am

hey priya…. vada curry reminds me of chennai too…….i shall surely try ur version soon!
apu August 26th, 2008, 3:26 am

Sounds (and looks) yum! But…it’s a bit of an effort, isn’t it…can I just pop over for breakfast instead ?