Those were the days when I never managed to get a hole in my vadai!! Since my family loved Thair Vadais, I prepared them quite often, but with the distinctive holes missing! However, it was compensated by the coarse chilly, coconut and ginger paste, green coriander dressing, and the spicy seasoning in a thick curd base.
As my babies grew up and were ready to taste Thair Vadais, I started making them with minimum spice and a smooth curd base. This became a hit with the rest of the family members as well, since then my thair vadais on popular demand remain the same - without holes, and without the heavy masala paste. These blobs in smooth curd, can easily be mistaken for some nice desert or sweet! I still remember the surprised look on the face of my daughters’ music teacher when he had the first bite of my Thair Vadai, expecting it be a sweet. But he did enjoy it after all and even requested for a second piece.
INGREDIENTS:
Black gram dal – 1 cup
Fresh ginger – 1” piece
Salt - 1tsp
Thick curd – 3 cups
Chilly powder – 1 pinch
Cumin powder – 1 pinch
Coriander seed powder – 1 pinch
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
Carrot - 1 (grated)
Sugar – ¼ tsp
Fresh coriander – a few
Oil - for frying
METHOD:
1. Soak the dal for half an hour.
2. Grind into a smooth batter adding little water at a time, along with ginger and 1/2tsp of salt, and leave it aside. The batter can be of idli batter consistency (this is more thin than what is traditionally made for vadais, but gives spongy vadais).
3. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and sugar to the thick curd and beat well to a smooth paste, without any lumps.
4. Take 2 tbsps of this curd and dilute it with 2 glasses of water, and keep the rest aside.
5. Heat oil and drop one spoon of batter into it and fry into a golden brown vadai.
Six to eight vadais can be fried at a time.
6. Drain the first batch of vadais, and immediately immerse them in the watery curd, prepared in step 4.
7. Now start frying the next batch.
8. Remove the first batch of vadais, which have now bloated, by absorbing the diluted curd, and arrange them in a shallow dish. This creates space for immersing the second batch of vadais.
9. Arrange all the fried and soaked vadais in the shallow dish.
10. Mix in the carrot gratings and chopped coriander into the thick curd that was set aside.
11. Sprinkle the chilly powder, cumin powder and coriander powder on top of the curd. Don't mix yet.
12. Heat 2 tsps of oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
13. When the seasoning splutters, pour it all over the spice powders on the curd cooking them. You can now mix well.
14. Now pour the seasoned curd mixture covering all over the vadais.
Enjoy these spongy luscious Thair Vadais with loved ones.
