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Vada and related fried products

Traditional Foods of India - Vada and related fried products

Traditional Food of India

2.7.Vada and related fried products

Vada (also called vadai, bada, bora or bara) is a pulse dough/paste-based traditional Indian fried snack. The product is generally shaped into a flattened circular shape, often with a small hole at the centre (Figure 2.7.1). The diameter of the hole varies from 5 to 25 mm. The snack with a large hole at the centre looks like a ring resembling a doughnut. The salt-spicy product is popular in South India though also prepared in other parts of India. The snack is also available in several South Asian countries. Conventionally, it has a golden brown or orange colour. The other shapes are often like a doughnut or dumpling, and are usually salty and savoury in taste. The product is prepared in restaurants, snack bars, domestic kitchens and as a street food, and eaten as freshly fried and in a warm condition. The diameter and height (thickness) of the products are usually 35-50 mm and 20-30 mm, respectively.

Raw materials
The main ingredients for the preparation of vada are pulses (black gram, green gram, Bengal gram, red gram and lentil, and their mixtures), potato and tapioca. Vegetables and other ingredients like cumin and coriander seeds, chopped onion, curry leaves, salt, chilli, black pepper, garlic, ginger and baking soda are added to improve taste and for creating varieties. The addition of baking powder and allowing the batter to ferment for a short time can offer improvements in texture and consumer acceptance. Black gram flour is the most common base ingredient for the preparation of vada. However, the different products, similar to vada, are also prepared with other ingredients like lentil and green gram flour as the major ingredient.

Different varieties
A fried product like vada and related products varies widely in different regions of India. The various forms of vada are Maddur vada (Figure 2.7.2) (produced in the Maddur district of Karnataka), dahi vada (also called doi bora which is consumed along with dahi (curd) with added salt, sugar and spice mixes), vada pav (a Mumbai-based sandwich made of spicy mashed potatoes or potato dumpling that are placed inside chutney-slathered baked bun pieces), medu vada (soft product consumed along with sambar and/or coconut paste), masala vada (spicy and crunchy snacks where spices added are fennel and coriander seeds, black pepper, turmeric and chilli), dal bora or daler bora (prepared using pulse flour dough/paste usually from green gram).

Medu vada, also called uddina or urad dal vada (Figure 2.7.1), is often consumed along with idli during breakfast, or as an accompanying item of tea or coffee. The snack is also consumed along with coconut chutney or sambar. Though the name vada is associated with vada pav, it is different from general vada products as it is a stuffed product where baked buns are used. The main ingredient for dal bora is moong (green gram) dhal flour, salt and chilli pieces or powder while the optional ingredients are chana (besan) flour, chopped onion and garlic paste. Piaju, piyaju or piaji (Figure 2.7.3) is a variant of dal bora where the main ingredients are chana flour and chopped pieces of onion. Piaju can also be prepared with lentil (musur dhal) or green gram (moong dhal) as a partial replacement for besan flour. The shaped item, in the form of slightly flat circular piece, is subjected to slow frying. The product has an outer crisp surface while the inner part remains semi-soft. The popular product pakoda is close to piaju; Bengal gram or green gram is the base material while rice flour is sometimes added to modify the texture of the finished snack.   

The other types of vada are rawa vada or rava vada (made of rawa or semolina), bonda (prepared with potato, garlic and spice coated with lentil paste and fried), sabudana vada (prepared using sago or tapioca globules), spinach vada (adding spinach during preparation), alu vada or aloo chop (prepared from cooked mashed potato that is coated with Bengal gram batter, and then fried), phuluri (fried dumpling of Bengal gram having small spherical shapes), keema vada (made from minced meat), etc. However, these latter snacks do not have any holes in the centre. These products are popular as afternoon snacks or tea time snacks in different parts of India. The product is consumed along with sambar, coconut and tamarind chutney (paste), and sauces like chilli and tomato sauce. However, a low shelf-life of one or two days is a drawback of these ready-to-eat snacks.

Dahi vada (Figure 2.7.1) is a variant of vada which is a popular snack in different parts of South Asia including India. After frying, the fried vada is dipped in medium-consistency dahi liquid. The product is often chilled and served to consumers in snack bars, restaurants and social functions frequently with fried boondi. Maddur vada is a thin flat circular-shaped fried snack (Figure 2.7.2) prepared from rice and wheat flour, wheat semolina, chopped onion, chilli and coriander leaves. The thickness and diameter can vary between 3 and 10 mm, and between 40 and 75 mm, respectively. The product can be stored for 1 to 3 months if packaged appropriately.

Bonda is a pulse (mainly besan) dumpling fried in oil. It has a near-spherical shape (diameter varying between 30 and 60 mm) and does not contain any hole at the centre. It has a semi-soft texture and is consumed as a ready-to-eat snack. The addition of cooked-mashed potato and various spices (as the filling material and coated with besan batter) improves consumer acceptance. The product has a similarity with phuluri while bonda is conventionally much larger in size.

Masala vada, prepared mainly with besan flour, has a flattened circular shape (diameter between 30 and 40 mm and thickness between 10 to 20 mm) and does not have a hole at the centre. The addition of several spices makes it attractive as a teatime savoury snack.

Moong dal vada, also known as pakoda or pakora (Figure 2.7.3), has a near-spherical shape with a diameter varying between 20 and 40 mm. However, irregular-shaped pakodas are also available. Vegetable pieces like onion are coated with a thick dhal flour batter (containing several spice powders) followed by frying. The batter is prepared mainly using green gram, besan flour and wheat/rice flour. Several variants of the product are onion, gobi (cauliflower), chicken, potato, and paneer pakodas. The product has a bright or dull yellow, or orange colour. The attractive feature of these products is the crispy outer layer while the inner portion possesses a semi-soft moist texture.  

Method of preparation

The dhals (black gram) are washed in water and soaked for 1 to 3 hours for moisture absorption and textural softening (Figure 2.7.4). They are then wet-ground to obtain a smooth and thick batter of desirable consistency employing a stone grinder or kitchen grinder. The appropriate consistency is required to obtain the conventional circular shape of vada. Other ingredients and spices like chopped green chilli, ginger and coconut, and coriander seeds and asafoetida are added to the batter, and mixed well. The batter is shaped into the conventional shape with a small hole at the centre. They are then fried in oil at a temperature of about 170oC with at least one turning for uniform cooking and frying. The product floats in oil and attains a golden brown colour to indicate the completion of the frying process. The product, accompanied by adjuncts, is served when warm.

Vada mix in the form of powder is available on the shelves which can partially reduce the time and drudgery of preparation. The powder mix is subjected to dough preparation, forming into a vada shape and frying as it is done in the traditional process of vada preparation. The powdery mix has a good shelf-life of 6 months or more.

Machinery

Vegetable washing and shredding units, mixing devices for mixing dry ingredients and for the preparation of batter and dough, a gadget for shaping vada, batch or continuous fryer, a deoiling facility and packaging machinery are required.

Requirements

  • Standardisation of the formulation and processing conditions for various vada products is needed to obtain good quality consistent products.
  • Attempts to increase the shelf-life and decrease the fat content of the product will help the consumers and product manufacturers.
  • Alternative processing conditions like baking and microwaving can eliminate the frying process so that the fat content can decrease significantly.
  • Design of a continuous line consisting of vada shaping/formation, frying and deoiling is a useful approach.

Further reading

Bhattacharya, S., Baby Latha, R. and Bhat, K.K. (2004). Controlled stress rheological measurement of blackgram flour dispersions. Journal of Food Engineering 63, 135–139.

Bhattacharya, S. and Narasimha, H. V. (2008). Effect of raw material characteristics on the properties of fried rice–blackgram dough. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition 59, 502-511.

Gandhi, A.P., Mishra, V.K. and Ali, N. (1983). Organoleptic assessment of full fat soy flour in various indigenous products, international Journal of Food Science and Technology 18, 771-775.

Indira, T. N. (1996). Deep-fat-frying characteristics of urd vada in a model system. Journal of Food Science and Technology 33, 133-137.

Sruthi, G. K. and Bhattacharya, S. (2014). Fermentation of blackgram paste: time‐dependent rheological characteristics, modelling and quality attributes of a traditional snack. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 49, 2214-2222.

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