Parippu Vada is a traditional evening snack of Kerala. It is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and is made with lentils and spices.
Ask me what my favorite 4 o’ clock snack with tea is and I would definitely say Parippu Vada. Go to any teashop in Kerala in the evenings, you’d find these hot lentil fritters being served with tea. Make small roundels for a cocktail appetizer too.
| How to Make Uzhunnu Vada / Medu Vada
As I type this, Mom and Dad are relishing the Parippu Vadas I just made. Yup. Dad loved my version and he has proudly taken a few to send over to my Aunt who lives next door. “Don’t make it too huge though”, he instructs on his way out!
How to Make Kerala Parippu Vada
Parippu Vada is made with a combination of chana dal (split chickpeas/kadala parippu) and toor dal (split pigeon peas/sambar parippu). The lentils are first soaked for a couple of hours, washed and then strained for another 30 minutes.
It is then coarsely ground. I use the smallest container of a mixer grinder pulse for a couple of seconds, to coarsely grind the dal in batches.
Finely chop shallots, green chilies, dry red chilies, ginger and curry leaves. Mix well.
Combine the coarsely ground lentil and the shallot mixture.
Take a lemon-sized portion of the mixture and flatten it between your palms. Slightly press the sides with your fingers so that remains bulgy in the center and curves outwards.
Fry in hot oil. You can either deep fry or shallow fry on both sides. Serve warm with evening chai.
Kerala Nadan Parippu Vada Recipe:
Kerala Nadan Parippu Vada is made of lentils and is had as an evening snack with tea.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Chana dal
- 1/2 cup Toor dal
- 10-12 Shallots
- 2-3 Green chilies
- 3-4 Dry Red chilies
- 1 tbsp Ginger
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red chili powder (optional)
- 2-3 sprigs of Curry Leaves
- Coconut oil, to fry
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- Soak the lentils for a couple of hours.
- Wash and strain and keep aside for another 30 minutes.
- Finely chop and combine shallots, green chilies, dry red chilies, ginger, and curry leaves.
- Coarsely grind the dal and mix it with the shallot mixture.
- Heat oil for frying.
- Add salt (and Kashmiri Chili powder) to the dal mixture and combine again.
- Take a lemon-sized portion of it and flatten between your palms. Press the sides with your fingers to get the desired shape of Parippu Vada which is slightly bulgy at the center.
- Fry in hot oil until golden brown
- Remove and serve warm with evening tea.
Notes
Season only just before frying. Else the dal mixture will become soggy.
That’s all for now!
Have you had Kerala Parippu Vada? Let me know.
I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow too.
My theme for the A to Z Challenge this year is ’26 Kerala Dishes that have my heart’, where I would share a multitude of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes from the Spice Capital of the World- Kerala!
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P. S: Do you want to treat yourself with some great book recommendations this Spring? Head over to my lifestyle blog where I would be sharing 26 books, authors and fictional characters that I love, loathe and tolerate.
656 total views, 5 views today
I am making this today itself. It looks too yummy.
I love these, Shalini! I loved how you’ve plated them and they look so tempting!
What a detailed recipe, Shalini…I will surely try this soon.
woow it looks so tasty !! trying it soon
The Parippu Vada look tempting and tasty. I have never had them but am going to try making them one of these days. Thanks for a detailed recipe, Shalini!
This is one of my favorite snacks, Shalini. Paruppu vadai – yummy!
My mouth is watering. Vadas are my weakness. These are very similar to the ambode they make here in Karnataka. I absolutely love and relish these.