Monday, March 7, 2011

Masala Vadai aka Cucur Rodei

Masala Vadai, or Cucur Rodei  we call it back home. One of my favorite savory snack food. My mom knows me too well and always reminded me in case I ever forget:)  She knows I always look forward to my favorite Cucur Rodei from this one Indian lady at her small spot in Kuching Sunday Market, buying a bag full to bring home to family, with extra eaten with freshly squeezed sugarcane juice on my way home. Heaven! I can eat these for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Her Cucur Rodei is perfectly cooked, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Thank you Auntie, for the best Cucur Rodei in Kuching! Nothing beats this.


Recently with my crazy cravings for food from home, I cannot just go out and get one like I used to. I have to make some myself and I had tried making these before, perfecting the recipe each time through taste bud memory and with the help of the world wide web. What I thought all those while, that the lady's famous masala vadai has dried shrimp, I was so wrong. The flavorful taste of it tricked me, and I did a few trial and error till this came out. This is one full vegetarian snack that you would love, entirely.

For my friend Rosalind, here's my simple recipe for my Masala Vadai.

Main ingredients

Masala Vadai ~
by FreezerNinja
Ingredients
1 lb of Chana Dhal ( soaked 4-6 hours or overnight)
One medium Onion
1-2 fresh Chillie ( or you can also use dry chillies, ground, some people like it cut in pieces or 1 teaspoon of chillie flakes) ~ heat of chillies to each one's taste bud
2 tablespoon of chopped Parsley (optional * I love the flavor of parsley in my mix)
2 tablespoon of chopped Cilantro
2 tablespoon of chopped Curry leaves ( fresh or dry)
1 teaspoon of Coriander powder ( you can use Coriander seeds and grind them coarsely instead of powder, I love these to create more texture)
1 teaspoon of Cumin ( ground or whole)
1 teaspoon of salt ( to taste)
Oil for frying

Process

1. Grind Chana Dhal coarsely, not fine.
2. Grind Onion with Chillie, Parsley, Cilantro and Curry leaves together.
3. Add ingredient 2 into 1. Add Salt to taste, Cumin & Coriander to the mixture.
4. Make into balls and flattened into patties.
5. Heat enough oil for frying.
6. Drop each of the patties gently into the hot oil.
7. Fry about 4-6 mins, flip them once you've seen the sides get golden brown but make sure not to disturb them before this happens or else will break  and get it crumbly in the oil if its not cooked & adhere to each bean.
8. Deep fry till golden brown.
9. Take it out of the fryer, on a rack to get access oil out or on a paper towel.

Crunchy on the outside, medium soft on the inside. Yummmm!

yummmm!
I hope you would love these as much as I do. Its a flavorful & fiberful snack. Vegetarian all the way!:)

Note: I did try baking them, instead of frying, I put them on a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil and bake them till it is golden brown. I find that it gets a bit too dry, but not so bad. I still prefer it fried. Double yumm!:)

Enjoy, All:)