Pesara Garelu (Moong dal Vada)

Recipe by Cook's Hideout

Wish you all a very Happy Deepavali. Pulihora (tamarind/lemon/mango rice) and garelu (vada) are the most frequently made festival food in our household. I think it’s the same case in most of the South Indian families. My attempts in making garelu have not been very successful. First attempt failed because of too much water in the batter and I ended up making punukulu (after adding almost a cup of rice flour). Next time, I made sure that I don’t add too much water, but for some strange reason, my garelu were really hard. When I was almost on the verge...

Ingredients

• 1 cup 15 oz. can black beans (Pesalu (Green moong dal))
• 15 oz. can black beans (Minapappu (Urad dal))
• 8 chilies (Green)
• 2 ginger (”)
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• to taste Salt

Method

1. Soak moong and urad dal, separately, overnight. In the morning, grind them into smooth batter with green chilies, cumin, ginger and salt.
2. Heat about 1½ to 2 cups of oil (I used canola oil) on medium-high flame. When the oil is hot enough, flatten a lemon size batter either on your palm or on a plastic Ziploc bag, make a small hole in the middle, slowly slide the batter into the hot oil. Fry the vadas on medium flame on both sides, till slightly golden brown.
3. Serve hot with any chutney (tomato, coriander, ginger, mint or good old coconut).

View the recipe instructions at Cook's Hideout