Kalmi vadas are made from the dough prepared from grinded Bengal gram (chana dal), grated cabbage and other spices. The kalmi vadas are fried two times so they are very crispy and crunchy. Tastes great when eaten with sweet and sour chutney and sprinkled chaat masala. These lentil fritters are a perfect party snack as you can prepare them well in advance. Ideal finger food and very easy to make. Kalmi vada are a very popular Delhi street food. Learn how to make kalmi vada.
Total Time: 45 mins + 3 hrs soaking
Serves: 3 – 4
Ingredients:
- 1 cup chana dal(Bengal gram)
- 1 cup grated cabbage
- 1 tbsp gram flour
- 1 tbsp whole coriander (crushed)
- 1 tbsp ginger (grated)
- 1 green chili (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp raw mango powder
- 1/2 tsp Chaat Masala Powder
How to make Kalmi Vada :
- Wash and soak chana dal in 4 cups of water for 3 -4 hours, after soaking the dal it will be about two times in volume. After that grind the dal inmixer thick and coarsely. Add water teaspoon by teaspoon so that it does not get too liquidy.
- Take it out in a big mixing bowl; add gram flour, grated cabbage, crushed coriander, salt, red chili powder and mango powder. Mix all the ingredients well. This will make soft and crumbly dough.
- Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai.
- From the dough make round balls and flatten with half inch thickness and three inch width.
- Deep fry on low flame till they are very light in color. We will fry the vadas only till half done. So make sure they get only light brown.
- Take them out and let it cool down.
- At the time of serving cut then in long strips.
- Again deep fry them till golden brown in color. Take them out over a paper towel.
- Serve hot with sweet and sour chutney and also sprinkle some chaat masala.
- Tip: You can even add some other dals like masoor dal and tuvar dal to make them extra protein rich.