This Parippu Vada recipe perfectly captures the soul of South Indian tea-time treats. Also known as Dal Vada or Lentil Fritters, these golden, crunchy on the outside, and irresistibly flavorful on the inside fritters are everything you want in a savory bite. Similar in spirit to falafel, but with a bolder, spicier twist, it makes them utterly addictive.
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Why you'll love this?
- Crispy, Flavor-Packed Goodness: A great snack that tastes exceptionally good, they are golden, crunchy, and bursting with South Indian flavors in every bite.
- Quick & Easy to Make: All you need is ground lentil paste mixed with a few simple spices and condiments. No complicated steps, all you need to do is just soak, grind, mix, and fry!
- Perfect for Any Occasion: A great appetizer and snack for parties, picnics, potlucks, and get-togethers. Serve along with fish cutlet Kerala style, beetroot veg cutlet, vegetable puffs, egg puffs Kerala style, and air-fryer sabudana vada for a crowd-pleasing spread.
- Loved by Everyone: This no-fail recipe wins hearts from kids who love the crispiness to adults who savor its nostalgic, homemade charm.
- Comfort in Every Bite: Whether enjoyed with a steaming cup of chai on a rainy afternoon or served as a festive treat, Parippu Vada delivers pure comfort, crunch, and joy every single time.
Ingredients
- Chana Dal (Split Bengal Gram) - Soaked and ground to a coarse paste, keep some whole chana dal to mix in the batter later.
- Toor dal (split pigeon lentils) is optional.
- Onion (or 5 shallots ), Green Chilies Thai, Curry leaves, and Ginger - They need to be chopped very finely. Use as tolerated.
- Red Chilly Flakes, Asafoetida, Oil
Parippu Vada Recipe - How to make?
Parippu Vada Recipe traditionally uses split Bengal gram, which is a type of lentil. A variation is to add 'Toor Dal' or split pigeon lentils to the split Bengal gram in the ratio 11/2 or 2 to ½. The process starts with soaking the dal in water for about 3 to 4 hours. In my preparation, I soaked for 3 hours.
The soaked dal is then ground into a coarse paste, preferably in a grinder or mixer with no water added.
- Step 1: Transfer the soaked Bengal gram dal to a mixer and grind coarsely using no water. Keep some soaked dal aside to mix later.
- Step 2: Transfer the ground paste into a bowl and combine well.
To this ground paste, we add onions, chilies, ginger, curry leaves, salt, asafoetida, and spices.
- Step 3: Add the shallots, chilies, ginger, curry leaves, asafoetida, and chili flakes. To this also add the whole soaked chana dal that was kept aside.
- Step 4: Finally, add salt just before making the patties and combine well.
Shape the batter into small patties that are flattened and then deep-fried. The vada tastes best when it is hot and crisp.
- Step 5: Shape into small patties by taking a small scoop and flattening the sides and leaving the center slightly thicker and fluffy.
- Step 6: Heat oil on medium heat and deep fry the vadas.
- Step 7: Cook on both sides until they turn golden brown.
- Step 8: Transfer to a colander lined with a paper towel to drain excess oil.
Coconut chutney or Ketchup is a good accompaniment to it, although it tastes best by itself. This is a very common snack in many hotels and restaurants.
It goes perfectly well as an appetizer at parties or potlucks, and also as a delicious afternoon snack with a cup of tea!
Useful Tips
- Do not soak the chana dal lentils for more than 3 to 4 hours if you want crispy vadas.
- Add little to no water when grinding the soaked chana dal.
- Add salt and onions just before deep-frying the vadas, else it will leave out water and make the batter runny and difficult to shape the vadas.
- Keep some soaked whole chana dal as is without grinding and add them to the batter later.
- If the batter gets runny, add rice flour or gram flour to make a thicker consistency to hold shape.
- Deep-fry on medium heat and cook thoroughly.
Recipe FAQ
Grind the soaked lentils with very little or no water to make a thick batter. Add salt and chopped onions just before shaping the patties and deep-frying them.
Soak the chana dal for a maximum of 3 to 4 hours, as soaking longer will make the vadas less crispy.
Sure, they can be baked at 425°F for 20 to 30 minutes, flip them in between, and spray a little oil. You can also airfry at 395°F, first pre-heat for 5 minutes, and then airfry for 12 to 15 minutes.
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Parippu Vada
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bengal gram Chana Dal (Split Bengal Gram)
- ½ cup Split pigeon lentil optional
- ½ Onion finely chopped (or 5 shallots )
- 2-3 Green Chilies Thai
- 5-6 Curry leaves chopped
- 3-4 Red Chilly Flakes
- 1 inch Ginger finely chopped
- 1 pinch Asafoetida
- 3-4 cups Oil to deep fry
Instructions
- Soak the chana dal in water for 3 to 4 hours.
- Drain the soaked dal using a colander and make sure there is no water left.
- Grind the soaked chana dal coarsely with red chilies.
- It is okay to have a couple of lentils uncrushed.
- Add the onions, chilies, ginger, curry leaves, and asafoetida.
- Add salt to taste.
- Take a small ball of the dough and shape it into a patty by flattening with your palm.
- These patties can be deep-fried till you get a golden brown color
- .Enjoy the spicy dal fritters with coconut chutney and with a hot cup of tea!
Video
Notes
- Do not soak the chana dal lentils for more than 3 to 4 hours if you want crispy vadas.
- Add salt and onions just before deep-frying the vadas, else it will leave out water and make the batter runny and difficult to shape the vadas.
- Keep some soaked whole chana dal without grinding and add them to the batter.
- If the batter gets runny, add rice flour or gram flour to make a thicker consistency to hold its shape.
- Deep-fry on medium heat and cook thoroughly.
Nutrition
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these lentil fritters are so good! such a delicious recipe.
Parippu vada is my favorite. I made one batch with your recipe so good and perfect.
These cook up so crunchy with the perfect amount of heat.
These lentil fritters look perfectly golden and crispy! I'm always looking for wholesome savory snacks, and the combination of spices sounds incredibly flavorful. Thank you for the recipe!
These savory fritters were a much healthier accompaniment to my afternoon tea than my usual cookies! They were delicious, too!
So yumm...Perfect with hot cup of tea or coffee..Will try this soon !!
Yes that is indeed the perfect combination and hope you get to make it soon . Thank you !
Ya I will make these soon and let you know how it turned out !!
Love it with tea!
Yes same here, it's a great combination with tea!
Yummy
Thank you so much Archana!
Yummmm..... 🙂
Thank you so much Lorelle, so glad you liked it it was indeed yum!
This is a specialty in our Sri Lankan culture too. Xx
Ah! I see that's nice to know !
Thanks Nisha. X
I love parippu vada and that looks soo yummy!!!!!
Thank you so much Anusha, happy to hear you love it as well.
Looks really yummy!😋
Thank you so much Ursula for the comments! They are very delicious and hope you can try them some time!
Looks delicious Nisha. I could easily reach in and grab a few! Now only if...
Thank you so much Dippy! You are very welcome to grab them 🙂 more than happy to share with you 🙂
Cant keep calm - this is my major weakness !!
Agree, it is a weakness for many of us especially when hot and crisp 🙂 Thank you Vidya for stopping by!
Oh i agree !! My pleasure! Cheers
Such a proteinrich indulgence ✌✌ one of the age old recipe...but still one of my fav recipe...this is one of my mom's signature dishes...I had this in ages....thanks for reminding me....🔝🔝
Yes Jyo, indeed an age old recipe and a very protein-rich snack , am glad it brought out good memories .Great to hear that it's your mom's signature dish, same story on my side as well 🙂 .Thank you so much!
Looks so tempting, love to grab one ! 🙂
Aww..Thank you so much Megala, you are very welcome 🙂 .They are indeed very tempting !