Vada, vadai, wada, bara, or bora is a category of savoury fried

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

s native to India. Vadas can be described variously as

fritter A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...

cutlet In cuisine, cutlet (derived from French ''côtelette'', ''côte'', "rib") refers to: # a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork, or chicken # a dish made of such slice, often breaded (also known in various languages as a ...

s, or

dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

s. Vadas are sometimes stuffed with vegetables and traditionally served with

chutneys A chutney () is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion, ...

and sambar. In

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, Bhalla is a similar food. It is sold in

chaat Chaat, or chāt (IAST: ''cāṭ)'' () is a family of savoury snacks that originated in India, typically served as an hors d'oeuvre or at roadside tracks from stalls or food carts across South Asia in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. ...

shops and kiosks; Green bean paste is added with spices, which is then deep fried to make croquets. They are then garnished with dahi (yogurt), Saunth

chutney A chutney () is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt, or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion ...

(dried ginger and tamarind sauce) and spices. Bhalla is usually served cold, unlike the Aloo Tikki. The various types of vadas are made from different ingredients, ranging from

legumes Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consu ...

(such as medu vada of South India) to

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

(such as batata vada of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

). They are often served as a breakfast item or a snack, and also used in other food preparations (such as

dahi vada Dahi vada or Dahi Bada ( Devnagari: दही वड़ा) is a type of ''chaat'' (snack) originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is prepared by soaking vadas (fried lentil balls) in thick dahi (curd). Names Dahi vada is also known as "d ...

, vada pav, and doubles).

History

According to K. T. Achaya, Vadai (Vada) finds mention in Sangam literature during 100 BCE – 300 CE. A type of vada is mentioned as "vataka" in ''

Manasollasa The ' also known as ''Abhilashitartha Chintamani'', is an early 12th-century Sanskrit text composed by the Kalyani Chalukya king Someshvara III, who ruled in present-day Karnataka. It is an encyclopedic work covering topics such as polity, gove ...

'', a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by

Someshvara III Someshvara III (; ) was a Western Chalukya king (also known as the Kalyani Chalukyas), the son and successor of Vikramaditya VI. He ascended the throne of the Western Chalukya Kingdom in 1126 CE, or 1127 CE. Someshvara III, the third king i ...

, who ruled from present-day

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. In this recipe, mung beans are soaked, de-skinned, and ground to a paste. The paste is shaped into balls and deep-fried. Early literature from the present-day states of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

also mentions ''bara'' (vada) and ''mungaura'' (a vada made from mung). Many immigrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrated to places such as

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

, and

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

in the mid-19th century to the early 20th century as indentured laborers. Bara became an important part of the Indian cuisine in these countries. In Trinidad and Tobago, bara became a component of one of their most famous street foods, called doubles. Doubles is served with two baras filled with curried channa and topped with various

s or achars. Many South Indians also migrated to these countries and brought their version of vada. For example, in Guyana it is known as Madrasi bara or waday to distinguish it from the North Indian bara.

Preparation

Vada may be made from

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...

. Commonly used legumes include

pigeon pea The pigeon pea (''Cajanus cajan'') or toor dal is a perennial legume from the family (biology), family Fabaceae native to the Eastern Hemisphere. The pigeon pea is widely cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions around the world, being com ...

chickpea The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual plant, annual legume of the family (biology), family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae, cultivated for its edible seeds. Its different types are variously known as gram," Bengal gram, ga ...

, black gram and

green gram The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

. Vegetables and other ingredients are added to improve taste and nutritive value. For legume-based vadas, the legumes (''dal'') are soaked with water, and then ground to a batter. The batter is then seasoned with other ingredients, such as cumin seeds,

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' , from Latin ), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion which was classifie ...

, curry leaves (sometimes previously sauteed), salt, chillies or

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

grains. Often

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

and

baking soda Sodium bicarbonate (IUPAC name: sodium hydrogencarbonate), commonly known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda (or simply “bicarb” especially in the UK) is a chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. It is a salt (chemistry), salt compose ...

are added to the seasoning in shops to increase the fluffy texture and improve fermentation for large batches. The mixture is then shaped and deep-fried, resulting in vadas with a crispy skin and fluffy centre. The preparation of ''kalmi'' vadas involves cutting the resulting product into pieces and re-frying them.

Varieties

The various types of vadas include: * '' Medu vada'', made with ''

urad dal The black gram or urad bean (''Vigna mungo'') is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the genus ''Phaseolus'' to ''Vigna''. The product sold as black gram is usually the whole urad bean, wher ...

'' (black gram) flour. This vada is shaped like a doughnut with a hole in the middle (i.e. an approximate

torus In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses inclu ...

). It is the most common vada type throughout South India and the most recognisable throughout India. It is also known as ''ulundhu vadai'', ''uddina vade'', ''minapa vada'' ( Telugu) and ''uzhunnu vada''. * * ''Masala vada'', made with

toor dal Toor may refer to: * toor (Unix) a secondary root account * Pigeon pea, or toor dal * A branch of the Tomar Tomar (), also known in English as Thomar (the ancient name of Tomar), is a Portugal, Portuguese city and a municipality in the histori ...

(whole lentils) and shaped roughly like a disk. It is also referred to as ''aamai vadai'' in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

due to its resemblance to a tortoise. Other names include ''masala vade'' (

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

), ''parippu vada'' (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

). ''Paruppu vada'', is an exclusive staple food authentic of Kerala made with yellow split peas green chillies, whole red chillies onions and salt (nothing more nothing less). It tastes entirely different to other similarly shaped vadas available in south India made of some type of

lentils The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

and an overt dose of spices. * '' Maddur vade'', a type of onion vada unique to the state of

. It is very popular in the Maddur town of

and has a very different taste from any other vada types. It is typically larger than other vada types and is flat, crispy (to the point of breaking when flexed) without a hole in the middle. It originally started as a snack at the Maddur railway station on the Bengaluru–Mysuru railway line. Maddur was the halfway mark on this line and most trains would stop there with passengers buying this tasty snack. * '' Ambode'', made from "split chickpeas without the seed coat" i.e. ''kadale bele'' in Kannada. * Mosaru Vade, made by cooking a vada normally, and then serving the vada in a mix of dahi (yogurt) and spices. * ''Eerulli bajji'', also known as ''uli vada'' (Malayalam): made with

. It is roughly round-shaped, and may or may not have a hole in the middle. * ''Rava vada'', made of

semolina Semolina is the name given to roughly milled durum wheat mainly used in making pasta and sweet puddings. The term ''semolina'' is also used to designate coarse millings of other varieties of wheat, and sometimes other grains (such as rice or ma ...

. * '' Bonda'', made with potatoes, garlic and spices coated with lentil paste and fried. In some regions, a bonda is considered a distinct snack food, and is not held to be a type of vada. * '' Sabudana vada'' is another variety of vada popular in Maharashtra, made from pearl

. * ''Thavala vada'', a vada made with different types of lentils. * ''Keerai vada'' (spinach vada) is made with spinach-type

leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...

s along with lentils. * '' Batata vada'' (potato vada). Often served in the form of vada pav, with a bun (known as a ''pav'') and

; common

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

, especially in Mumbai. * ''Keema vada'', a vada made from minced meat, typically smaller and more crisp than other vada types with no hole in the middle. * ''Vada

curry Curry is a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices, mainly derived from the interchange of Indian cuisine with European taste in food, starting with the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch and British, and then thoroughly internatio ...

'' or ''vada sambhar'' is a gravy dish that is made with prepared vadas blended with a vegetables in a curry or a gravy format. * ''Bhajani cha vada'': a vada made from a flour made from bajri, jawar, wheat, rice, channa dal, cumin, coriander seeds etc. A speciality of Maharashtra, very nutritious too. *'' Doubles'': a snack is made with two baras filled with ''

channa'' ( curried chickpeas) and various chutneys. File:PalakVada.jpg, Palak Vada File:Uzhunnu vada.jpg, Medu vada or uddina vada Parippuvada 2011.jpg, Masala vada or Paruppu Vada or 'aamai' tortoise vadai File:Batata Vada.jpg, Batata Vada File:Medur Vada 2.jpg, Maddur Vada File:Neem Flower Vada.jpg, Neem Flower Vada File:Ulundu vada.jpg, ulundu vada File:FOOD Doubles 2.jpg, A Trinidadian doubles that consist of two baras filled with curried channa File:Bhalla Papri Chaat with saunth chutney.jpg, ''Bhalla Papri chaat'' in dahi (yogurt) with Saunth

File:Dadvada.jpg, Dadvada

References

External links

{{Street food Indian fast food Street food in India Doughnuts Indian snack foods Karnataka cuisine Andhra cuisine Tamil cuisine Telangana cuisine Sri Lankan snack food South Indian cuisine Kerala cuisine Fijian cuisine Sinhalese New Year foods Surinamese cuisine Indo-Caribbean cuisine

History

Preparation

Varieties

See also

References

External links