Vadiyalu (vadi in hindi) are crispy fritters usually made with soaked, ground urad dal, moong dal batter, then sundried and stored in airtight containers. I usually stock up my pantry with these vadiyalu because its easy to whip up a humble yet tasty curry in no time. These days, you could also find them in most of the indian grocery store. I’m running out of urad dal vadiyalu so decided to cook today’s version with the store bought moong dal vadi’s. Although I could not compare It’s a simple yet delicious curry that you find in andhra homes and here is how we do it….

                                                                                         

Ingredients:

1 cup of vadiyalu (urad/moong dal vadi) – Fry in hot oil till golden brown as shown in the picture above and set aside

3-4 tbsps of cooking oil

1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)

1 tsp mustard seeds (avalu)

8-10 curry leaves

3 medium onions finely chopped – about 2 cups ( increase if you need more gravy)

Salt to taste

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste (I do not use this when cooking with urad dal vadiyalu)

2 tsps chilli powder (adjust)

1 ½ cup water

freshly chopped coriander leaves for garnish

How to:

• In a vessel, heat oil. On low flame fry cumin seeds and mustard seeds till they splutter. Throw in the curry leaves, onions, salt and turmeric powder. Fry till the onions turn soft and light golden brown in color on medium flame.
• Add ginger-garlic paste and fry on medium flame for about 2 mts. Then add chilli powder. Mix well.
• Add the fried vadiyalu and water. Bring it to boil, reduce the flame and cook for about 15 mts or till the desired gravy consistency is reached and the vadiyalu turn soft. Keep in mind that the vadiyalu should not lose their shape but should be soft to chew. Adjust salt and chilli powder at this point of time
• Once the vadiyalu are cooked and the gravy turns thick, turn off the flame. Add chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve hot with steamed rice and a stir fry of your choice.

 Note: When I use urad dal vadiyalu (minapappu vadiyalu) to cook, the process remains the same except that I don’t add ginger-garlic paste to onions. But at the end when all the water is absorbed and the gravy is formed, I add ½ cup of warm milk to the curry and sprinkle it with a pinch of cloves powder (lavangalu podi) for the extra touch. The result, is a mild sweet curry with a punch of spice.