FARALI BATATA VADA

Ingredients

For potato mixture –

•   Peanut Oil – 1 tablespoon + more for deep frying

•   Cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon

•   Green chilies – 3, chopped finely

•   Ginger paste – 2 teaspoon

•   Cilantro (kothmir) – 1 small bunch chopped

•   Potatoes – 3 medium, 1 ½ cups, boiled, peeled, mashed and cooled

•   Rock salt (Sendha namak) – to taste

•   Black pepper powder – ½ teaspoon or to taste

•   Lemon juice – 1 ½ teaspoon

•   Sugar – ½ teaspoon

For outer layer –

•   Singhare ka atta (Water chestnut flour)-1/3 cup

•   Rock salt (Sendha namak) – to taste

•   Black pepper power – to taste

•   Water – very little more than ⅓ cup

Instructions

Make potatoe mixture –

1  Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle.

2  Then add chopped green chilie. Cook for 20 seconds.

3  Add mashed potatoes, ginger paste, salt and pepper and sugar.

4  Mix well. Cook till potatoes get heated through. Finally add lemon juice and kothmir and mix.

5  Remove it to another plate, so it cools down quickly.

Make batter –

1  While potato mixture is cooling, let’s make batter. 

2Take singhare ka atta, salt, pepper in a bowl. And mix well.

3  Now add little water a time and make smooth batter. By adding little water at a time, there won’t be any lumps in the batter. Batter should be not too thick not too thin. It should be just thick enough that it coats very easily to vada.

Fry batata vada -

1  Now potato mixture should be cool to touch. Divide it into 8 equal portions and shape them into round, smooth ball. And meanwhile heat the oil in pan for deep frying.

2  Now deep one potato ball in the batter and coat with batter from all the sides.

3  Once oil is hot drop batter coated ball into the oil very carefully. Oil should be hot enough (more hot then usual all frying). How to check oil is hot enough or not? Drop small portion of batter into oil and if it comes on top of oil immediately then oil is ready for frying. If oil is not hot enough then vada will break into the oil or it can absorb more oil.

4  Deep fry it till it is golden brown from all the sides. do not touch the vada for at least 1 minute after adding in the oil. If you touch with your spatula then it might get break.

5  Remove it to the paper towel lined plate. And serve warm.

Additional Info

Taste – medium spicy

Shelf life – storing the vada is not recommended. Best served warm or the day it’s made.

Serving suggestions – usually serve as a snack on fasting or vrat days like ekadashi or mahashivratri.

Tips –

- Oil should be little more hot that usual all frying for this batatavda. And this will prevent vada from braking into the oil and also prevent vada from soaking more oil.

- Singhare ka atta has tendency to fall apart while frying. As you drop the vada into the oil, it might separate few small particles of batter in the oil.

- If you do little shallow frying instead deep frying then batter will fall apart very very little. But if you deep fry (means when you drop the vada in the oil, it should be totally into the oil, not like half in the oil and half out) the vada, it won’t break or fall apart at all.

- Do not touch the vada for at least 1 minute after adding it onto the oil. This will prevent vada from breaking into the oil.