My mother in law has an younger brother. The brother’s mother in law had visited my mil at the village when my husband was around 3 years old. Her name is Rajamani Ammal. So when she was leaving, she took my husband for holiday vacation to Coimbatore. A long holiday vacation that lasted for years. He stayed with her till he got married. Can you believe this story? I was awestruck when he told me about this when we met before marriage. She was the one who got him into school, college and got him married. She took care of everything as her own son. I cannot imagine someone to do something like this. She is the most simple person you will ever meet in life. Before marriage, Vinodh told me that I will have two mother in laws after marriage. She is the most generous person I have met in life. No double standards. She treats everyone the same. She asks her cook Suresh to make this Vadai whenever we go to Coimbatore. Suresh takes the pain to grind the batter in a stone mortar (attangal) as that’s how amma likes it. This is her recipe for moong dal vadai and her favorite Vadai. Here is a picture of Amma with her son and mine.
Here is Suresh grinding the moong dal vadai batter in attangal.
Soak the Moong dal in water for couple of hours. We use split moong dal with the skin still on. The texture of the vada is really nice with this dal. You can use split yellow moong dal too.
Soak the moong dal for a couple of hours in lots of water.
Wash the moong dal and drain several times to get rid of the skin attached to the dal. Wash until most of the skin has been removed. Little skin will remain and that is OK. Its desirable.
Take a blender and add in the dal, red chillies and cumin seeds. Don’t add water while grinding. The dal would have soaked lots of moisture and there will be enough moisture already. Grind the dal to a slightly coarse paste. The batter should be really thick. Pulse several times stopping in between to mix. Add in the chopped onions, minced ginger, coriander leaves, green chillies, asafoetida, baking soda, rice flour and salt. Mix well to combine.
Heat oil in a kadai until hot. Drop little spoonful’s of batter in oil. Take a small piece of the batter in your finger tips and use your thumb to slide the batter into the oil.
After dropping the batter, do not disturb the oil kadai for 30 seconds. The vadais may break. Just leave it to cook. Use a fork to turn the vadais in between. Deep fry till golden.
Serve hot with tea.
For Grinding
- 3/4 cup green mung dal preferably with skin
- 2 dried red chillies
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
For final mixing
- 1 big onion, finely chopped
- 2 - 3 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1/2 inch piece ginger, finely minced
- 3 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- a pinch of asafoetida
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
Deep Fry
- 500 ml sunflower / vegetable oil
- Soak the Moong dal in water for couple of hours. Wash the moong dal and drain several times to get rid of the skin attached to the dal. Wash until most of the skin has been removed. Little skin will remain and thats OK. Its desirable.
- Take a blender and add in the dal, red chillies and cumin seeds. Dont add water while grinding. Grind to a slightly coarse paste. Add in the chopped onions, minced ginger, coriander leaves, green chillies, asafoetida, baking soda, rice flour and salt. Mix well to combine.
- Heat oil in a kadai until hot. Drop little spoonful’s of batter in oil.
- Deep fry till golden.
Notes
If the batter is too runny, add in a couple of tablespoon of rice flour.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
For Grinding
- 3/4 cup green mung dal preferably with skin
- 2 dried red chillies
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
For final mixing
- 1 big onion, finely chopped
- 2 - 3 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1/2 inch piece ginger, finely minced
- 3 sprigs coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- a pinch of asafoetida
- 2 tablespoon rice flour
Deep Fry
- 500 ml sunflower / vegetable oil
- Soak the Moong dal in water for couple of hours. Wash the moong dal and drain several times to get rid of the skin attached to the dal. Wash until most of the skin has been removed. Little skin will remain and thats OK. Its desirable.
- Take a blender and add in the dal, red chillies and cumin seeds. Dont add water while grinding. Grind to a slightly coarse paste. Add in the chopped onions, minced ginger, coriander leaves, green chillies, asafoetida, baking soda, rice flour and salt. Mix well to combine.
- Heat oil in a kadai until hot. Drop little spoonful’s of batter in oil.
- Deep fry till golden.
Notes
If the batter is too runny, add in a couple of tablespoon of rice flour.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Appetizer
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/moong-dal-vadai-pasi-paruppu-vadai/
Paruppu Payasam is a house favorite. This is my husbands favorite payasam. Coconut milk, lentils and the very mild flavor of cardamom and ghee makes the payasam sublime. Its a very traditional recipe and here is how to do it.
Wash the moong dal. Take a bowl and add in the washed 1/3 cup moong dal and 1 cup water. I like to cook the moong dal in the pressure cooker. The important thing for paruppu payasam is the texture of the lentil. It should not be very mushy. So the water quantity needs to be appropriate. For one part of lentil, use three parts of water. I use pot in pot technique to avoid the cooker from spewing water while cooking. Take a pressure cooker and add in a cup of water. Then place the lentil bowl with water into the pressure cooker. Cover the cooker and cook for 3 whistles on medium flame. It will take about 6-7 minutes. Remove from heat and wait for the pressure from the cooker to release naturally. Set aside.
Take a pan and add in half a cup of jaggery and half a cup of water. Wait for it to melt completely.
Take a small mixie jar and grind 3 pods cardamom with 2 tablespoon of sugar to a powder. Add it to the pan. Let it simmer for couple of minutes.
Remove from heat and strain the mixture.
Add the strained jaggery liquid back to the pan. Add in the cooked dal, little salt and the thick coconut milk. Keep the flame of the stove at low. Simmer the payasam briefly for two minutes. Do not bring it to a boil. Remove the payasam from heat. Set aside. The payasam should still have a little texture from the lentils. The lentils should not be mushy. Here is how to do coconut milk at home. Canned coconut milk can be used for this recipe if you are in a hurry.
Take a small pan and add in two teaspoons of ghee. Add in the cashews and fry till brown. Add it to the payasam.
Serve warm.
For cooking dal
- 1/3 cup split yellow moong dal
- 1 cup water
Other Ingredients
- 1/2 cup jaggery
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 3 cardamom
- 1/2 cup thick coconut milk
- 2 pinches salt
Final Tempering
- 2 teaspoon ghee
- 15 cashewnuts
- Wash the moong dal. Cook the dal with water for 3 whistles in a pressure cooker. Set aside.
- Take a pan and add in half a cup of jaggery and half a cup of water. Wait for it to melt completely.
- Take a small mixie jar and grind 3 pods cardamom with 2 tablespoon of sugar to a powder. Add it to the pan. Let it simmer for couple of minutes.
- Remove from heat and strain the mixture.
- Add the strained jaggery liquid back to the pan. Add in the cooked dal, little salt and the thick coconut milk. Keep the flame of the stove at low. Simmer the payasam briefly for two minutes. Do not bring it to a boil. Remove the payasam from heat. Set aside.
- Take a small pan and add in two teaspoons of ghee. Add in the cashews and fry till brown. Add it to the payasam.
- Serve warm.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu
