Aval vadai or poha vadai recipe – when my family visited in February, amma brought me a huge sack of aval (poha or flattened rice). Well maybe not a huge sack but for someone who cooks for two, it definitely seemed that way. We didn’t have any when they were here so I was stuck with a whole lot of aval and a guy who doesn’t like aval nanachathu. So what’s a girl to do except resort to snack-making and deep frying?
So here’s how you can make a quick aval vadai. Since there’s not much soaking and no grinding involved, this is a quick snack that will keep people guessing as to what went into their vadai. If you want more vadai or snacks recipes, check out this list of quick and easy evening snacks recipes.
Also check out: potato poha or batata poha recipe.
Let’s start with 1 cup aval / poha
Soak it in about 1/2 cup water until soft – about 10 mins.
Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients – 1 small chopped onion, 2 green chillies (adjust to taste), 1/2 tsp jeera, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1-2 tbsp besan / chickpea flour and 1-2 tbsp of rice flour
Mix these into the soaked aval along with salt (also add curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves if you have any handy – I only had curry leaves)
Flatten into small discs that are not too thick. While shaping, if the mixture is too thick, dip fingers into a bowl of water and try to shape. If the mixture is watery, add some besan or rice flour.
Deep fry until golden brown. Serve hot with chutney.
Or dunk them into some tomato rasam like we did!
Aval Vada Recipe
Makes 7-8 vada
Ingredients:
1 cup aval / poha
1 small onion, chopped
2 green chillies
1/2 tsp jeera
1tsp grated ginger
1-2 tbsp besan (use as required to shape vada)
1-2 tbsp rice flour
Curry leaves or coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
Instructions:
1.Soak aval in about 1/2 cup water for 10 mins, until soft.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to this and mix well.
3. Shape into roughly 1/4″ thick discs. While shaping, if the mixture is too thick, dip fingers into a bowl of water and try to shape. If the mixture is watery, add some besan or rice flour.
4. Deep fry until golden brown and serve with chutney or dunk them into some tomato rasam.
The texture is more smoother and spongier than lentil vadai. We loved it, especially as rasam vadai. The added bonus is, its so quick to make (although I didn’t tell TH that or else he would ask for this every weekend!).
interesting recipe! Never tasted these vadas before!
superb recipe dear..thanks for sharing
An interesting recipe with aval 🙂 Here people make vada with pita bread…almost same method as your aval vada:)
When you say, it tastes good as Rasam Vadai, I want to give it a try. Very easy to make too. Thanks to your uncle for giving the idea.
i too make this ,but i use mashed potatoes as biding agent. love the aval basket.
Amazing!I appreciate the way u thought about vada when u saw the aval.
Hb.
a quick snack..should try it sometime..
Wow,I have never tried this so far,but sure sound simple enough to try this out!
Not a fan of rasa vada but luv aval in any form so sure to try it sometime…Wat if we bake them…sure not crispier and tastier as the deep fried ones…wat say?
To be fair, I thought of this idea because I remembered the first meal that TH and I had at his uncle's place. His uncle is a very creative cook and had made these as appetizers. We named about 10 ingredients when he asked us to guess what the vada is made of. Finally he let me in on his secret. I didn't get the aval vada recipe from him, this is pretty much my own, but the idea is his 🙂