Thair Vadai - Savoury Doughnuts in Curd

THAIR VADAI - Savoury doughnuts in curd

Those were the days when I never managed to get a hole in my vadai!! Since my family loved Thair Vadais, I prepared them quite often, but with the distinctive holes missing! However, it was compensated by the coarse chilly, coconut and ginger paste, green coriander dressing, and the spicy seasoning in a thick curd base.
As my babies grew up and were ready to taste Thair Vadais, I started making them with minimum spice and a smooth curd base. This became a hit with the rest of the family members as well, since then my thair vadais on popular demand remain the same - without holes, and without the heavy masala paste. These blobs in smooth curd, can easily be mistaken for some nice desert or sweet! I still remember the surprised look on the face of my daughters’ music teacher when he had the first bite of my Thair Vadai, expecting it be a sweet. But he did enjoy it after all and even requested for a second piece.


INGREDIENTS:
Black gram dal – 1 cup
Fresh ginger – 1” piece
Salt - 1tsp
Thick curd – 3 cups
Chilly powder – 1 pinch
Cumin powder – 1 pinch
Coriander seed powder – 1 pinch
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
Carrot - 1 (grated)
Sugar – ¼ tsp
Fresh coriander – a few
Oil - for frying
METHOD:
1. Soak the dal for half an hour.
2. Grind into a smooth batter adding little water at a time, along with ginger and 1/2tsp of salt, and leave it aside. The batter can be of idli batter consistency (this is more thin than what is traditionally made for vadais, but gives spongy vadais).
3. Add 1/2 tsp of salt and sugar to the thick curd and beat well to a smooth paste, without any lumps.
4. Take 2 tbsps of this curd and dilute it with 2 glasses of water, and keep the rest aside.
5. Heat oil and drop one spoon of batter into it and fry into a golden brown vadai.
Six to eight vadais can be fried at a time.
6. Drain the first batch of vadais, and immediately immerse them in the watery curd, prepared in step 4.
7. Now start frying the next batch.
8. Remove the first batch of vadais, which have now bloated, by absorbing the diluted curd, and arrange them in a shallow dish. This creates space for immersing the second batch of vadais.
9. Arrange all the fried and soaked vadais in the shallow dish.
10. Mix in the carrot gratings and chopped coriander into the thick curd that was set aside.
11. Sprinkle the chilly powder, cumin powder and coriander powder on top of the curd. Don't mix yet.
12. Heat 2 tsps of oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
13. When the seasoning splutters, pour it all over the spice powders on the curd cooking them. You can now mix well.
14. Now pour the seasoned curd mixture covering all over the vadais.
Enjoy these spongy luscious Thair Vadais with loved ones.

Comments

jayasree said…
Mouthwatering vadais. My amma also makes thayir vadai with out hole.
Lakshmi said…
Mosaru vade looks yumm and thanks for the handy tips to make soft mosaru vade. Having a hole or not having it should not make a difference :D coz they are yummy any way!
My favourite dish. appa
Sangeeth said…
o!drooling i luv this recipe...anyday anytime! so I am self inviting for snack time!
Sagari said…
very delecious looking curd vadas
Anonymous said…
I love this vada too. It looks so good. My Amma makes thair vadai with masala vada. That taste good too. I love any vada. Thanks.

Radha
Usha said…
Your thair vadai's looks yummy...I also make my vadai's without the hole...
Anonymous said…
Dear Chitra!
Greetings from Robert-Gilles In Shizuoka, Japan!
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and wrting a kind comment!
Although I am not a vegetarian, I make a point to investigate whatever could come as seful for friends with specila requirements.
I will coninue to look around and I'm pretty sure i will findsomething!
There is a vegetarian page on my blog. Please check it!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles
DK said…
Thayir vadai will always be an eternal fav! Good looking ones in here :)
Cham said…
Hmm great to have in hot summer days :)
Anonymous said…
since long time i prepared thairvadia.
janaki
Anonymous said…
hi:
I followed the above recipe ... to the core (no pun intended :) )..but somehow, they turned out to be very hard.. did i miss something??
Pls do revert.. thanks
Kalyani
Dibs said…
Hello Kalyani - hmm ..wonder what happened!

Here are few things to take care of:

1) Quality of urad dal - Some dals take longer to soak than others. So instead of just half hour - try soaking for 2 -3 hours. You will know, because the dal swells up,and you can crush/break it between your nails.

2)Consistency of batter - Slightly thinner consistency gives soft vadas, but you may not be able to make a hole in the center!

3)Once you fry hot vadas, try soaking in hot water (with little salt)instead of buttermilk. Besides making the vada soft, it also removes excess oil.

These are the 3 things I can think of! Do try and let me know if you are successful next time! All the best!