Here's a perfect companion for chai or coffee - Cabbage Vada. Vada is a fairly common snack in South India, but a variation with Cabbage is not so common.
Ten simple ingredients make up this wonderful snack that will make your family asking for more. For more tea time snacks, check my onion pakoda recipe that is almost similar to this one.
The preparation time is very short. So it comes in handy when you are out of snacks and don't feel like shopping for some. Most ingredients are pretty common, but if you are missing any, I have made it easy for you to look them up on Amazon.
For this recipe, I chose regular green cabbage, but the purple variety works well too. A common mistake most people do is they add water when they prepare the batter and the masala vada ends up absorbing a lot of oil. It is important to keep the batter relatively dry when you prepare it. In fact, when you add salt to the ingredients, the onions and cabbage will provide all the moisture you will need. You can spice up the recipe by adding a little extra chili powder. I like to keep it medium spicy.
How to make this recipe
- Place the chopped cabbage and onion in a mixing bowl
- Add all the spices - Chili powder, Coriander powder, Cumin seeds, Salt, and Asafoetida. Mix well and place it aside for 5-10 minutes
- Meanwhile, place a deep frypan over medium heat and the required amount of frying oil (2-3 inches deep).
- Take small chunks of batter and shape them into 20-25 balls (About 1"-2")
- Gently flatten the balls to make sure they cook evenly.
- Make sure the oil is ready for frying by dropping a small piece of batter in the oil. If the piece touches the bottom of the pan and comes up instantly, the oil is ready.
- Drop the flattened batter in batches of 5-10 depending on the size of your frying pan.
- Fry them until they turn golden brown on both sides.
- Place the vada on a paper towel to allow extra oil to drip and let it cool a little. Cabbage Vada is ready!
Cabbage Vada
Ingredients
- 1 small Cabbage - chopped
- 1 small Onion - finely chopped.
- 1 cup Besan flour/ chick pea flour
- 1 cup Rice flour
- Salt to taste
- 2 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon Coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- Pinch of Asfoetida
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Place the chopped cabbage and onion in a mixing bowl
- Add all the spices - Chili powder, Coriander powder, Cumin seeds, Salt, and Asfoetida . Mix well and place it aside for 5-10 minutes
- Meanwhile, place a deep fry pan over a medium heat and required amount of frying oil (2-3 inch deep).
- Take small chunks of batter and shape them into 20-25 balls (About 1"-2")
- Gently flatten the balls to make sure they cook evenly.
- Make sure the oil is ready for frying by dropping a small piece of batter in oil. It the piece touches the bottom of pan and comes up instantly, the oil is ready.
- Drop the flattened batter in batches of 5-10 depending on the size of your frying pan.
- Fry them until they turn golden brown on both sides.
- Place the vada on a paper towel to allow extra oil to drip and let it cool a little.
Lauren Vavala
Sounds so yummy! I love discovering new food like this!
Gin
Indian spices and cabbage sounds like a delicious combo! Anything in cute little fried patties like this has my vote. 🙂
Donna
Oh yum, these sound delicious! I am always on the lookout for recipes to use up the cabbage I always end up with at the end of the week, and these sound just perfect!
HealthierSteps (@Healthiersteps)
These sound amazing, love all the flavors. Perfect as appetizer, with ketchup and fries. So many delicious ways to eat them!
Vanessa @ VeganFamilyRecipes
These look so cool! I'm a big lover of cabbage (yes, people like that exist) so this recipe is perfect for me! Can't wait to try it out! Thanks!
Molly ~ EasycookingwithMolly
We love cabbage fritters and vada sounds so much more fun. I'll try the recipe soon.
Uma Raghupathi
Thanks Molly!
Mel @ avirtualvegan.com
I adore cabbage. What a unique way to use it! They sound delicious. I would definitely up the chilli as per your suggestion. they would be great served with mango chutney and raita!
Uma Raghupathi
Thanks Mel! Yes absolutely any chutney will make this snack more tastier!
Anjali @ Vegetarian Gastronomy
This recipe sounds delicious! Never tried adding cabbage, need to try it!
Uma Raghupathi
Thanks Anjali! Adding cabbage makes more sumptuous 🙂
jaroflemons
I have never heard of this, but it sounds amazing! Cabbage is so good, and this recipe sounds epic!