My five year old has a hard time differentiating between “adai” and “vadai”. Although both are made with lentils, adai is basically a lentil pancake whereas vadais are deep fried. I taught her the difference by saying that adai is like dosai and she seemed to have caught on to it. Deep fried snacks are quite addictive and this is no exception.
Vadai is a deep fried Indian snack made with lentils and spices. You can find one version of vadai here; the version my mom makes and it is made with just one kind of lentil. “Mysore” is a city in India and this vadai has a mixture of lentils and is sure to be a crowd pleaser. The outer layer is crunchy from the deep frying and the inside is soft and loaded with nuts and cilantro. This version does not include onion although we normally add it to our usual vadais. Off to the recipe.
Mysore Vadai

Indian deep fried snack.
Ingredients:
- channa dal - 1/2 cup (kadala paruppu)
- urad dal - 1/2 cup (ulutham paruppu)
- toor dal - 1/2 cup (thuvaram paruppu)
- moong dal - 1/2 cup (payatham paruppu)
- green chilly - 2
- ginger - 1 inch piece
- salt - to taste
- cilantro - 1 cup - packed
- curry leaves - few
- cashews - 10 - chopped
- oil - to deep fry
Instructions:
Soak dals for about two hours.
Blend ginger and green chillies and to it add the soaked dals and salt. Blend to a coarse mixture; add cilantro, curry leaves and cashews to it and mix.
Heat oil. Take small balls of the mixture and flatten in your palm; drop them carefully into the hot oil. When the vadai turns golden brown and is cooked, remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
Serve as a snack or as a side.
2 years ago: Vendhaya Keerai Kuzhambu (Methi leaves in tamarind gravy)
Pictorial
1. Soak the dals for a couple of hours.












Addictive snack ready.

wow..super tasty vadai, looks crispy and yummy…picture perfect