Cabbage vada is a fried Indian snack recipe made with lentils, shredded cabbage and other spices. It is usually had as an evening snack but sometimes it is also had as an accompaniment to another dish.
Vada is a very popular snack in the south Indian states. I love to eat hot vadas in a rainy evening along with hot coffee or tea. Oh my God! It is a perfect heaven like experience on Earth! I made this vada using lentils, so, it is similar to a masala vada. This is a very easy and tasty snack recipe as it can be prepared in a jiffy. Ok, so why did I choose cabbage? I didn’t choose it. There was a whole cabbage lying in my fridge and I didn’t want to make the usual poriyal, kootu, blah blah blah recipe. I was in a mood to eat something crispy, spicy and with a lot of Indian flavors and… eureka! I found the right recipe! That is why I made cabbage vadas and I enjoyed having it hot and crispy, but, there was something I really missed… THE RAIN!
Though there was no rain, the climate here compensated for the missing rain. Anyways, whatever the climate was, I still had my vadas. So, are you also like me? Do let me know in the comments!
Mostly, vadas are had with chutney, sometimes sambar too. You can also have it with tomato ketchup, if you like the combination. Anyways, check out my chutney recipes to make an amazing side dish for the vada.
Apart from the reason behind me preparing this vada, I guess cabbage has a lot of health benefits too. So, nothing wrong in having a healthy yet tasty snack, right! Do try the recipe and let me know. Happy cooking and eating!
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Cabbage Vada
Ingredients
- 1 cup chana dal
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 red chilies
- salt, as per taste
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
- 3/4 cup finely chopped cabbage
- 2-3 green chilies, finely chopped
- 1 inch piece ginger, grated
- a few curry leaves, roughly chopped
- oil, for deep frying
Instructions
- Measure the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and chana dal.
- Wash the dal with water and drain the excess water. Set aside.
- In a mixer grinder add the fennel seeds, cumin seeds and the red chilies and pulse it for 5-7 seconds in pulse mode.
- Add the chana dal to the mixer grinder along with salt and grind it to a coarse paste without adding any water. Transfer the contents to a mixing bowl.
- Prepare the other ingredients required for the vada.
- To the mixing bowl add the rest of the ingredients (onions, cabbage, green chilies, ginger and curry leaves).
- Mix the contents of the bowl by squeezing it. Mix until a dough is formed.
- Meanwhile, in a kadai on high flame, heat oil for deep frying the vadas.
- Take a small portion of the dough, make a round ball and flatten it as shown in the picture.
- Reduce the flame to medium and add the flattened dough to the oil and deep fry the vada until it changes to golden brown in color from all sides.
- Line a plate with an absorbent paper and drain the vadas onto the plate.
- Serve hot with chutney or tomato ketchup.
Notes
- Add red chilies as per your taste.
- Add water to the chana dal only if it is too dry to grind.
- Cut the cabbage and onions finely to ensure even cooking.
- Add green chilies as per your level of spiciness.
- If the dough is not binding well then add a tbsp of rice flour. Add more if needed.
- Always fry the vada in hot oil. If it is not hot, then the vada might absorb more oil.
- Do not overcrowd the kadai while frying the vada.
- Lining a plate with an absorbent paper is important to make sure all excess oil is absorbed before serving.
