Rasa Vada/Split pigeon peas and chick peas fritters dunked in spicy tomato soup. Gluten and Vegan free

When you combine, vada/fritters with rasam (a spicy tomato soup) then it become rasa vada.  In fact you need two different recipes to make this dish. In my house I made Parippu vada/ Combo of toor dal/ spilt pigeon peas and chana dal/ Chick pea fritters for my evening tea.  Usually it will finish by the end of tea time. So there will be nothing left for making this dish.  But one day I had some left, so I decided to make this vada. 

If you live in south India, you can practically live gluten free and a strict Vegetarian life, just like my mom, dad and their ancestors. I too was not eating any eggs until I left India, however we did consume lot of milk and milk based products like yogurt and paneer (cottage cheese). Our side dishes and rice is mostly vegan free.  But when I landed in Japan where fishes are eaten just from fish tank, because of the difficulty in getting the vegetables I was used to eating in India, I started eating eggs.

Actually making rasa vada   is a tribute to my mother. She loved it a lot, and used to make it sometimes. On the last day of every month dad  would goes to his office ( General Post Office) to pick up his pension, and on  his way back home, he would always buys something to eat from restaurant for mom. And she would always ask him to bring Masala dosa and Rasa vada (both her favorites). I came to know about this habit, when I call them from Japan, she told me she is eating Rasa vada and masala dosa. I asked her if she made it.  She told me no, dad had bought from the restaurant.  During her last few years, mom was unable to cook, as she had lost vision in one of her eyes due to diabetes, and the cooking department was taken over by dad.  Now when I become mom, I always remember her every day, when I cook something, when eat something, my little one does something. When two of them make my life crazy, I wish if she is with me, at least I can leave my kids with her and go for a shopping and so on. 

I do make rasam once a week as my princess Nidhi likes it a lot. If I make a rasam and a stir-fry/thoran with beet root   or cabbage I don’t need her to tell to eat or feed her. Lunch and dinner will happen without any fanfare. Otherwise you can encounter some flying, throwing etc of rice and other dishes both in floor and chair. 

Okay coming back to recipe, for rasa vada we usually only chana dal - toor dal fritters (parippu vada) not the split black gram fritters (Uzhinuvada) .  In Trivandrum area from where I am from,  we make Vada kootu curry with potato and uzhinuvada.  

I make three types of rasam in my house, first one withpuree of tomatoes, pepper rasam if  my hubby or myself catch a cold or has sore throat  and this rasam for my little one. Nowadays I am making the last version a lot. She loves to eat tomato pieces as well as cilantro leaves in the rasam. 

I made rasam using store bought Brahmin’s rasam powder and also added some homemade pepper rasam powder. Once you make the rasam add parippu vada ( Toor and chana dal fritters), set it aside for at least 3-4  hours,  best results are with  8 hours or overnight. And you scoop up the softened vada with a spoon to eat.  When you have finished all the vada, you can also enjoy the thickened rasam. Enjoy with your evening tea or coffee or even have it during your breakfast.  Here goes the recipe for rasam in my household.

What you need

 Print recipe from here 

For Parippuvada/ Toor –chana dal fritters click here

For Rasam

Tomato: 1 cup ( about 3 no, chopped into cubes)

Cumin seeds: ½ teaspoon

Mustard seeds: ¼ teaspoon

Garlic cloves: 1 no

Rasam powder: 1 teaspoon ( I used Brahmin’s rasam powder)

Pepper rasam powder: ¼ teaspoon ( Home made)

Turmeric Powder: ¼ teaspoon

Tamarind juice: ¼ cup ( A small golf sized tamarind dissolved in ¼ cup water)

Cooked Dal water: 1 cup

Salt: 1 teaspoon or to taste

Curry leaves: 1 sprig

Cilantro /coriander leaves: 1 tablespoon (chopped into fine pieces)

Parippuvada 8-10 nos

Water: 3 cup

Olive oil: 1 teaspoon

How I made 

In a saucepan heat 1 teaspoon  oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds when mustard seed starts popping add chopped garlic and fry for minute and then add tomato pieces and curry leaves. 

To this add turmeric powder and salt and cook until tomato become soft. 

In the meantime heat tamarind and ¼ water into microwave for 15 seconds and extract and strain juice and set aside. 

To the tomato mixture add cooked dal water, tamarind juice and water and bring to boil and then add both rasam powders and bring to boil. 

Then add coriander leaves and switch off the flame. 

Add parippuvada into the hot rasam.  Keep aside for 8 hours or minimum 5 hours before serving.

Enjoy!!

Preparation time: 25 minutes for making rasam + 8 hours of soaking+ extra time required for making Parippu vada

Yield: 10 rasa vada

Verdict: Yummy

Will you make it again: Yes when vada is available