Aval / Poha / Flattened Rice Vadai - Quick Vada Recipe - Step by Step

When my family visited in February, amma brought me a huge sack of aval (poha or flattened rice). Well maybe not a huge sack but for someone who cooks for two, it definitely seemed that way. We didn't have any when they were here so I was stuck with a whole lot of aval and a guy who doesn't like aval nanachathu. So what's a girl to do except resort to snack-making and deep frying? 

So here's how you can make a pretty quick avai vadai. Since there's not much soaking and no grinding involved, this is a quick snack that will keep people guessing as to what went into their vada!

Let's start with 1 cup aval / poha

        Soak it in about 1/2 cup water until soft - about 10 mins. 

Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients - 1 small chopped onion, 2 green chillies (adjust to taste), 1/2 tsp jeera, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1-2 tbsp besan / chickpea flour and 1-2 tbsp of rice flour

Mix these into the soaked aval along with salt (also add curry leaves and fresh coriander leaves if you have any handy - I only had curry leaves)

Flatten into small discs that are not too thick. While shaping, if the mixture is too thick, dip fingers into a bowl of water and try to shape. If the mixture is watery, add some besan or rice flour. 

         Deep fry until golden brown. Serve hot with chutney.

       Or dunk them into some tomato rasam like we did! 

Aval Vada Recipe

Makes 7-8 vada

Ingredients:

1 cup aval / poha

1 small onion, chopped

2 green chillies

1/2 tsp jeera

1tsp grated ginger

1-2 tbsp besan (use as required to shape vada)

1-2 tbsp rice flour 

Curry leaves or coriander leaves, chopped

Salt to taste

Oil to deep fry

How I Made It:

1.Soak aval in about 1/2 cup water for 10 mins, until soft. 

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to this and mix well. 

3. Shape into roughly 1/4" thick discs. While shaping, if the mixture is too thick, dip fingers into a bowl of water and try to shape. If the mixture is watery, add some besan or rice flour. 

4. Deep fry until golden brown and serve with chutney or dunk them into some tomato rasam. 

The texture is more smoother and spongier than lentil vadai. We loved it, especially as rasam vadai. The added bonus is, its so quick to make (although I didn't tell TH that or else he would ask for this every weekend!).