The first time I had Beetroot Vadai is on a fine evening, accompanied by tea, at my cousin Ananthi’s place and I absolutely loved it. Never knew before that beetroots can be used to make vadais. The preparation is almost the same as that of regular Paruppu Vadai’s with just an addition of beetroots. And the natural purplish-red colour of them gives an appetizing colour to the Beetroot Vadai. Remember that the beetroots have a sweetness in them and balance the spice level accordingly to suit your taste. If your kids or someone in the family doesn’t like beetroots, you can always trick them to include this root vegetable in their diet by making these vadais. Trust me. It works!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Bengal gram/Channa dal/Kadalai parupu
- 1 Beetroot, peeled and grated
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 8 Red chillies
- 1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp Salt or as needed
- 1 large Onion, chopped
- 2 Green chillies, chopped
- 2 sprig Curry leaves, chopped
- Water
- Oil for deep frying
Preparation:
Wash and soak the Bengal gram in the water fully immersed, for about 2 to 3 hours.
Drain the water and transfer the Bengal gram to a blender along with garlic, red chillies, fennel and salt. Grind it to a coarse paste, without adding any water (*Refer Notes).
Transfer it to a bowl. Add grated beetroot, chopped onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Mix them all together.
For making the vadai, take a small amount of the dal mixture in your hand make it into a small ball and press it between your palms lightly. Repeat the process until all the mixture is done. Heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel on a medium flame. Once the oil is hot enough, drop about 5 to 6 vadais in the oil slowly. Fry them till they turn golden on both sides, flipping in between. Take them out and drain the excess oil in a tissue/paper towel. Repeat the process for frying the remaining vadais.
Serve them hot as an evening snack.
Notes:
- To check if the dal is soaked and ready to be ground, try splitting it in between your thumb and index finger. If it splits, you are good to go.
- There is no need to add any water while grinding. If it is too hard to grind, then add just 1 or 2 spoons of water. If you add too much water, it might be difficult to shape the vadais. Remember that the beetroots have its own water content as well.
- As beetroots have a natural sweetness to them, adjust the number of chillies you use for acquiring the desired spice level.
- To make sure that the oil is hot enough, drop a small pinch of the mixture into the oil. If it comes up immediately, the oil is hot and you can start frying the vadais.
- The number of vadais that can be fried at a time depends on your vessel’s capacity. Make sure there is enough room to flip the vadais.
