Sambhar Vada

Ingredients

• Oil (for deep frying and for tadka (tempering))
• Salt (to taste)
• Red chili powder (1 teaspoon)
• Turmeric powder (1/2 teaspoon)
• Asafoetida (a pinch)
• Curry leaves (10-12 leaves)
• Mustard seeds (1 teaspoon)
• Tamarind (a small ball, soaked in water)
• Rice (1 cup)
• Toor dal (1 cup)
• Urad dal (1 cup)

Instructions

1. Soak urad dal and rice in separate bowls for 4-5 hours. After soaking, drain the water and grind them together to a smooth paste. This is your vada batter.
2. Heat oil in a deep-frying pan. Make small balls out of the vada batter and deep fry until they turn golden brown. These are your vadas. Drain them on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
3. Soak tamarind in water and squeeze to extract its juice.
4. Cook toor dal in a pressure cooker until it becomes soft and mushy.
5. Heat another pan, pour some oil and add mustard seeds. When they start to splutter, add curry leaves, asafoetida, turmeric powder, and red chili powder. This is the tadka (tempering) for the sambhar.
6. Add the tamarind extract, cooked dal, and salt to the tadka. Let it boil for 10-15 minutes. This is your sambhar.
7. Finally, soak the fried vadas in the sambhar for 10-15 minutes before serving. This allows the vadas to absorb the flavours of the sambhar.