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!).
its got a very spongy yet crunchy texture. try it 🙂
I made the vadas. They actually saved my day. It was one of those rare Sunday mornings that I had not had my breakfast planned in advance. I had checked your blog yesterday. Made the recipe. The discerning husband loved it. Have put it up on my blog already. Thanks!
i love aval, cant wait to try this!
Thank you for posting this – I love vada and I love south Indian food. I travelled round the southern states by train and had the most wonderful time. I shall follow your blog and I'm really looking forward to reading your posts!
never heard of aval vada .. I'd love to eat it with tomato rasam
interesting quick snack nags love that rasa vada mouthwatering yummm…
very interesting recipe with poha, hearing this for the first time. Looks good.
I made these once – by mistake… i made the poha soggy by soaking it too long… and they were delicious… nice and crispy… u must have enjoyed them 🙂
Sharmilee, baking aval vada sounds like a nice idea, try and do let me know!
Srimathi – these are very crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. So the outside texture will be smooth and crisp and the inside will be spongy and chewy. Fry one vada first and see how it comes out. You may need to adjust thickness of the shaped vada or adjust oil temperature if the inside is not getting cooked properly.
looks tempting with the rasam. great pictorial.