Vada/garelu - a south indian lentil doughnut

Ingredients

• 2 cups Urad dal/black gram
• 2 tablespoons raw Rice
• 1 tablespoon Chana dal
• 1 Onion, peeled and fienly chopped
• 1 tablespoon Jeera/cumin seeds
• 6-9 fresh Curry leaves
• 2 Green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• Salt
• Oil for frying

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Preparation

• Combine urad dal, raw rice and chana dal. Wash throughly for 2-3 times and soak for 5-6 hours. Using a colander strain all the water from the dal and grind it to paste by just sprinkling drops of water if needed.
• In a bowl mix chopped onions, green chillies, jeera, curry leaves and salt. Mix well by adding above ground paste.
• Pour enough oil in a kadai or heavy bottom cooking vessel for deep frying. Slowly heat up the oil, but not too hot.
• Wet your hands with oil or water and take a lemon sized ball from the batter and flatten it on a greased plastic sheet or plantain leaf to form a circle, put a hole on the center with your finger.
• Slowly and carefully drop it into the hot oil and fry on both the sides on a medium flame, till the vada is nice golden in color.
• Once the vada's are completely cooked take them out on a kitchen tissue/kitchen towel and repeat the process till the batter is completed.
• Serve hot with coconut chutney/ peanut chutney/ sambar/ karivepaaku karam podi.