Oats Masala Vada
- 20 min prep
- 165 min
- Cook
- Serves 4
- 335 kcal
- 12 g protein
Coarse chana dal, quick oats, fennel and curry leaves, pressed into vadas with craggy, crunchy edges. Deep-fried, shallow-fried or air-fried, your call.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200 g) chana dal, soaked 2 hours
- ½ cup (45 g) quick oats
- 1 medium onion (100 g), finely chopped
- 2-3 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
- 2 sprigs curry leaves, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
- 1½ tsp fennel seeds (saunf), lightly crushed, and 2 dried red chillies
- Salt, to taste
- Oil for deep-frying (about 3 tbsp is absorbed)
Method
- 1Rinse the chana dal and soak it in plenty of water for 2 hours. Drain it completely in a colander for 10 minutes; excess water is the enemy here.
- 2Keep aside 2 tbsp of the soaked dal. Grind the rest with the dried red chillies and fennel in short pulses, without water, to a coarse, grainy paste.
- 3Transfer to a bowl and add the reserved whole dal, quick oats, onion, chillies, ginger, curry leaves, coriander and salt. Mix well.
- 4Shape straight away: take a lemon-sized portion, roll it into a ball, then press it flat on your palm to a 1 cm thick disc with ragged edges.
- 5Heat oil in a kadai over medium heat. Slide in 4-5 vadas and fry for 5-6 minutes, turning a few times, until deep golden and crisp, with no hiss of steam left.
- 6Drain on a rack or paper and serve hot.
Notes from the Department
- If the mixture will not hold, add a tablespoon more oats and rest it for 2 minutes. Do not leave it longer; the oats keep absorbing and the vadas crack.
- Shallow-fry: cook flattened vadas in 3-4 tbsp oil on a tawa over medium heat, 4 minutes per side. Air fryer: brush with oil, 180°C for 14-16 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Fry on medium, not high. High heat browns the outside before the dal inside cooks.
Nutrition per serving
- Energy
- 335 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbohydrate
- 42 g
- Fat
- 14 g
- Fibre
- 11 g
- Sugars
- 6.7 g
Why this works
Masala vada, paruppu vadai, aama vadai: the tea-shop snack of the South is mostly coarse chana dal and courage. We fold in quick oats for two reasons. They soak up any stray moisture in the batter, which is what usually makes home vadas fall apart in the oil, and they lighten the texture so the vada is crisp at the edges rather than dense all the way through. Fennel and curry leaves keep it tasting exactly like the original.
Grind coarse. A smooth paste gives you a soft, oily vada; a grainy one with a few whole dal pieces gives you that crunch you can hear across the room.
Swaps
Use half chana dal and half toor dal for a softer vada. Add shredded cabbage or chopped dill leaves for a twist that many Bengaluru darshinis already use. Rolled oats work; pulse them once with the dal. This recipe has no hing, so with certified gluten-free oats it is gluten-free. For no onion, skip it and add a little more ginger and coriander.
Serving and storage
Serve hot with coconut chutney or green chutney and a strong filter coffee. Vadas also go into rasam or sambar for vada-sambar on a slow morning. Leftovers keep for a day in the fridge; reheat in an air fryer at 180°C for 4 minutes to re-crisp. The ground batter does not keep well once the oats are in.
Questions people ask
- Why do my vadas break in the oil?
- The batter has too much water or the oil is not hot enough. Drain the dal very well, grind without water, and add a spoon more oats if the mixture feels loose.
- Can I make oats vada without soaking dal?
- No, chana dal must be soaked for at least 2 hours to grind and cook properly. For an instant vada, try an oats-and-besan version instead.
- Can I bake oats masala vada?
- Yes. Brush with oil and bake at 200°C for 20-22 minutes, flipping halfway. They come out crisp outside but a little drier than fried.
Inspired by Desi Fiesta. Method, notes and photograph by the Ministry of Oats.
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