Nagpuri Vade

Nagpuri Vade

नागपुरी वडे

Cooked, tested & tasted by: Sharada Marathe

Photo credit: Sharada Marathe

Course : Savoury

Cooking time: 1hr

Serving size: about 25 vadas

Ingredients:

 

• 2 vati green moong dal (split green gram)

• 1 vati moth/matki (moth beans)

• ½ vati chana dal (split yellow lentil)

• ½ vati urad dal (split dehusked black lentil)

• 4 tsp Coriander seeds

• 1tsp methi dane (fenugreek seeds)

• 1 inch Ginger (qty)

• 10-15 curry leaves

• 2-3 Green chilies 

• Oil

• Salt

• Fresh Coriander

Procedure:

1. Soak moths beans over night separately.

2. The next day tie them in a cloth for sprouting.

3. Depending on the temperature/humidity in your region, the moth beans will take a day or two to sprout. So consider sprouting time to your cooking day accordingly.

4. The night proceeding the  cooking day, soak all the dals separately overnight or for 6 hours.

5. Drain the water from the dals.

6. Spread the dals on a cloth to soak up the remaining moisture for about 30 minutes. The dals should not dry up completely and remain slightly moist. With too much moisture, the vada will not hold shape.

7. In the meanwhile, heat oil in a pan.

8. Roast methi dana on low flame to a slightly reddish brown colour.

9. Roast coriander seeds on a low flame in the remaining oil, till fragrant. It should take a couple of minutes.

10. Grind the ginger, chillies, curry leaves, methi dana and coriander seeds together to a fine paste.

11. Grind the dals and moth beans to a coarse texture.

12. Mix the two pastes and add salt. Add finely cut fresh coriander.

13. Heat oil in a pan on medium high flame.

14. Take a handful of vada mix and shape it on a baking sheet or your hands. You could make a hole at the center for even cooking.

15. Slide the vada from the sides of your pan.

16. Turn it once a side is partially cooked.

17. The vada is considered done once it turns reddish brown.

18. Place the vada on a strainer or tissue to soak up any remaining oil.

19. Serve with rice and red chilly tempering.

Tips:

• Sprouting is faster if, the soaked and drained moth beans are kept in a covered vessel. If kept in a covered vessel, the cloth need not be tied at its neck.
• These are usually made to celebrate aathawichi puja that comes before Diwali festival.
• If making on a large scale, you can make them a lot earlier before serving, as they taste great even at room temperature!
• This is an old classic which is always a hit!

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