Ingredients
Method
1. Wash the chana dal 2–3 times.
2. Transfer the washed dal to a bowl.
3. Add enough water to fully submerge the chana dal.
4. Soak the dal for 1½ hours.
5. Drain all the water.
6. Grind all the ingredients of the dry masala into a coarse powder in a mixer.
7. Keep the masala mix aside.
8. Grind the soaked chana dal to a coarse mixture. Do not grind too much.
9. Then, transfer it to a mixing bowl.
10. Add curry leaves, mint, green chilli, onions, turmeric powder, salt, ginger garlic paste and the dry masala to the mixing bowl.
11. Mix it all using hands.
12. Make golf ball-sized round balls of the mixture and flatten them with your palm to make a vada.
13. Tightly shape them to prevent them from falling apart while frying.
14. Keep the uncooked vadas aside.
15. Heat a sufficient quantity of oil in a kadhai.
16. Add a bit of the vada mixture to the pan to check if the oil is ready. (If the bit floats up, the oil is ready; if it turns brown, the oil is too hot.)
17. Cook the vadas on a low flame so it is cooked evenly while browning on the outside.
18. Add as many vadas as possible in a single layer. Do not disturb the vadas for 2–3 minutes as they tend to break.
19. Fry for 10–12 minutes on a low flame. Turn the vadas halfway through to ensure they brown evenly on both sides.
20. Then, take them out from the kadhai and place on a kitchen tissue to drain the excess oil.
21. Serve hot.