Pyazi or Chana Dal Vada

VADA also known as wada or vade or vadai or Bara is a savoury fritter-type snack from South India.
There are two types of vadai - Paruppu vadai made ​​from chana dal (split de-husked black chickpeas), and Ulundu vadai made from urad dal (de-husked black lentils.)


Varieties
The main vada types are:

• Uddina vade , Ullundhu vada or Medhu vada: made with Urad dal (black gram) flour. This vada is shaped like a doughnut, with a hole in the middle.
• 'Masala Vade' (Kannada), 'Masala Vada' (Telugu) or 'Paruppu vadai' : whose main ingredient is toor dal. It is made with the whole lentils and is shaped roughly like a flying saucer. This type of vada is also called aamai vadai  in Tamil Nadu.

Other types of vada are:

• Maddur vade: a type of onion vada unique to the state of Karnataka.
• Ambode: made from 'split chickpeas without the seed coat' i.e. 'kadale bele' in Kannada, 'chana dal' in Hindi.
• Dahi Vada (दही वडा- Hindi): made by serving the vada in a mix of yogurt and spices).
• EruLLi bajji,Vengaaya vadai (Hindi:'Pyaz vada'; Malayalam:'Uli vada'): made with onion. It is roughly round-shaped, and may or may not have a hole in the middle.
• Masala vada: a softer less crisp vada.
• Rava vada: vada made of semolina.
• Bonda, or Batata vada: made with potatoes, garlic and spices coated with lentil paste and fried.
• Sabudana vada: another variety of vada popular in Maharashtra, made from Pearl Sago.
• Thavala vada: a vada made with different types of lentils.
• Keerai Vada (Spinach Vada): made with spinach-type leaf vegetables along with lentils.
• Vada pav: A vada served in a bun (known as a pav) with chutney is known as a vada pav, a common street food in Maharashtra, especially in Bombay.
• Keema Vada: A vada made from minced meat.
• Bhajani Cha Vada: Vada made from a flour made from Bajri, Jawar, Wheat, Rice, Channa Dal, Cumin, Coriander Seeds Etc. A speciality of Maharashtra, very nutritious too.

In Orissa, Chana Dal vadas are known as pyazi,may be because they are loaded with lots of onion.

Ingredients

Chana Dal or Split Bengal Gram        1/2 cup

Garlic                                            4-5 cloves

Dried Red Chillies                           2-3

Salt                                              to taste

Cumin seeds                                  1/2 tsp

Onion,sliced                                   2

Green Chilies,chopped                     4

Green coriander leaves,chopped        1/4 cup

Hing/Asafoetida                              a pinch(optional)

Method

1.Wash and Soak the chana dal for 2 -3 hrs or overnight. However 2 hrs is good enough.
2.Drain the water and grind it coarsely along with garlic and dried red chilies adding very little water. Don't worry if some chana dal pieces remain as it is.

3.The paste should be on the drier side as shown in the pic.
4.Add salt,green chilies,coriander leaves,hing,cumin seeds and lots of slice onion.
5.Make small balls and fry them till light golden.
6. Take them out, press a bit with hand so as to flatten keeping in mind that it doesn't break.
7. Fry Again till golden brown. Drain on an absorbent paper.




Tip: If you want to make your piaji at a later stage, then fry them once and keep aside. At serving time, flatten them,fry again and serve hot with chutney or ketchup.