Aval Vadai | Poha Vada
Aval Vadai or Poha Vada is an instant vada or snack made using flattened rice or poha, onions, rice flour and some basic pantry ingredients that are easily available at home. This vadai is super crisp and crunchy from outside and soft from inside.
Traditionally most of the vadas require at least 2 hours of soaking the dal, followed by grinding which can be time consuming especially if you are in a hurry. This vada does not require any soaking or grinding and can be made in a matter of minutes. So if you are looking at making vada or snack in a jiffy for a sudden rainy evening or sudden guests at home, look no further! This Instant Vada is really a winner in terms of taste, crispness and the ease with which it can be made.
While Paruppu Vadai or Channa Dal Vada is one of my favourites, especially the Masala Vada or Vazhaipoo Vada variant, but it requires the prep work as mentioned above. On certain days when you want to make Paruppu Vadai as an accompaniment for a variety rice dish like Lemon rice, Puliyogare etc., this recipe works brilliantly for such occasions as it can be made instantly.
My mom used to make these vadas quite frequently, and is one of our family favourites. I am sharing my mom’s recipe in this post, however I have tweaked the ratio of couple of ingredients to make the vadai crunchier and retain the crunch for a longer duration. Unlike Paruppu Vadai, which loses it’s crispness after sometime, Aval Vadai remains crisp for several hours! Who doesn’t like a crunchy vada?! It is a boon as you can make this vadai is advance and it would still remain crunchy by the time it is served to the guests or family.
The recipe for this vadai is quite simple and demands only the basic ingredients which are regularly available in our home kitchen – Poha or Aval, Rice Flour, Gram Flour, Curd, Onions, Green Chillies, Coconut pieces, Coriander, Ginger and Curry Leaves.
We need to use the thin aval/ poha for making this vadai, however do note that it is NOT the one that is used for making chivda (which is very thin). This is the same variant of aval/ poha which you use for making the breakfast dish ‘Poha’ or ‘Aval Upma’.
Here are some of my tips to get a perfect crunchy vadai:
- Rinse the poha with water in a colander and just let it rest for 2 to 3 minutes. Make sure there is no excess water .
- Addition of rice flour to the vada gives a super crunch to the vada and helps retain this crispness for longer. Follow the proportion given in the below recipe for the perfect balance between crunch and softness.
- Do not mash the poha while kneading the dough and let the poha retain it’s structure to some extent. This gives the vada a good texture just like Paruppu Vadai.
- Always cook these vadas on medium flame so that it turns crunchy from outside and is cooked through from inside.
Serving Suggestion
Aval Vadai can be served as an evening snack, tiffin box snack, or an accompaniment for variety rice or meals. Even though it is best enjoyed when it is piping hot, but it tastes equally good even when consumed later as it remains equally crunchy.
When served as snack, this vadai pairs best with coconut chutney, green chutney or even tomato ketchup. My personal favourite is coconut chutney, as the vadai has predominantly South-Indian flavours.
Aval Vadai | Poha Vada
Ingredients
- 2½ cups Aval or Poha (Flattened Rice) medium thin variant
- ¼ cup Rice Flour
- 2 tbsp Curd
- 2 tbsp Gram Flour or Besan
- 1 Onion roughly chopped
- 3-4 tbsp Coconut Pieces finely chopped
- 2 Green Chillies finely chopped
- 1 inch Ginger grated
- 3-4 sprig Curry Leaves finely chopped
- 4-5 tbsp Coriander Leaves finely chopped
- ¼ tsp Asafoetida
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- Salt to taste
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Rinse and wash poha or aval in a colander twice or thrice. Let the poha rest in the colander for 2 to 3 minutes till it fluffs up.
- The poha should be soft and fluffy now. You should be able to easily mash it between your fingers. Make sure that there is no excess water.
- Transfer the soaked poha to a mixing bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients except oil.
- Knead the ingredients by applying mild pressure to bind everything together to a dough. Try not to add water and just sprinkle few drops if required. Let the poha retain it's structure and do not make it too mushy.
- The dough is ready when you are able to roll balls out of it.
- To shape the vadai, with clean hands take a small portion and roll into a ball first.
- Then flatten it between your palms
- Continue shaping all the vadai with the remaining dough.
- Heat oil in a kadai. Lower the flame and drop the vadai in hot oil one by one. Make sure to cook the vadai in medium heat.
- Once the vadai changes colour, flip them and continue to cook on medium flame.
- Drain the vadai on to a paper towel once the vadai turns golden brown.
- Continue cooking the remaining vadai. Serve hot with chutney of your choice.
Video
Notes
- I have used medium thin poha or aval which is used for making ‘Poha’ or ‘Aval Upma’. This requires minimal time for soaking. If you are using thick variant, soak a bit longer till it becomes soft.
- Soak the poha in a colander, so that there is no excess water. If the poha has excess water, the dough will become mushy and sticky and not shape well.
- Addition of rice flour makes the vadai crunchy. However do not add in excess of the ratio given above, as the vada could turn brittle and hard.
- This vadai tastes best with onions added, however if you do not consume onion, you can replace it with cabbage.
- Make sure to chop the onions slightly big as they tend to turn brown in this vadai.
- Cook the vadai on a constant medium flame to get crunchy vadai.
- This vadai stays crisp and crunchy for longer than Paruppu or Masala Vadai
- You can also add some garlic and fennel seeds to the vada to make it like Masala Vadai.
