The Recipe Room

Vadas are crispy Indian treats that you can enjoy for breakfast or as a snack. These fried pastries look a lot like mini-doughnuts, since they are round and have holes in the centre. However, they are a good deal healthier than doughnuts, because instead of being made with regular dough, they are made with ground up legumes.

Different Vada recipes will call for different legumes; normally, mung daal, urad daal, or channa daal will be used. “Daal” basically means legumes that have had their hulls, or outer shells, removed.

Legumes in general are very low in fat and healthy. Many Indian vegetarians cook with legumes a lot because they are so high in protein. Since they are also rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, they really pack a nutritional punch.

There are a wide variety of different Vada recipes, but today I am going to tell you how to make Spinach Vada. If you are a vegetarian, spinach is a great way to get your iron.

However, this is not to say that Vada are extremely healthy snacks. They are, after all, deep fried treats. That is why I do not prepare them very often. But I find that once in a while, a little indulgence goes a long way!

They remind me a bit of falafel, which is made out of chickpeas. Usually they are also fried, but you can try this oven-baked falafel recipe for a healthier version.

Coconut Chutney is a lovely type of chutney that is perfect for breakfast. You can spread it on your toast in the morning for a healthy treat. This chutney is quite filling, so it will keep you going all morning. However, keep in mind that coconut is actually quite fattening, so you will not want to spread too much on your morning toast—unless you are planning to go for a jog afterwards!

For another variation, you can try this green coconut chutney used on rice flour pancakes.

Coconut Chutney also goes well with Bhaturas.

Ingredients:

• 40g cashews, crushed
• 30g Channa Daal
• 500g shredded coconut
• 8 whole red chilli peppers, dried
• 5 curry leaves
• ½ tbsp. ginger power
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp. whole cumin seeds
• Salt – to taste
• 4 tbsp. vegetable oil

Preparation Method:

1. In a frying pan, heat a small amount of vegetable oil on low heat.
2. Crush the cashews. I typically use a mortar and pestle for this. Or, you can put them into a ziplock plastic bag and hammer them on the counter with the bottom of a pan for a minute
3. Add the Channa Daal and crushed cashews to the frying pan, stirring slowly for a few minutes.
4. Remove the Channa Daal and crushed cashews and put them in a blender.
5. With the same vegetable oil, slowly fry the shredded coconut on low heat for a few minutes. Remove the coconut and add it to the blender.
6. Put the ginger powder in the blender.
7. Blend thoroughly.
8. Add salt to taste and give it a final stir.
9. Remove this paste and put it in a serving bowl.
10. In a separate pan, heat more vegetable oil on high heat.
11. Add the mustard seeds, but be careful! They will pop, so don’t let them splatter on you.
12. Now add the cumin seeds to the pan and stir quickly.
13. Add the dried red chilli peppers to the pan and stir with energy. Remember, these chilli peppers are whole. Do not chop them, or the hot, spicy taste will become too intense and will overwhelm the chutney.
14. Add in the curry leaves and stir for 30 second more.
15. Remove this and pour it directly on the chutney paste in the serving bowl.
16. The coconut chutney is now ready to be served. Enjoy!

Makes: Enough for 8 servings.
Takes: 45 minutes (plus 8 hours soaking time)