Aloo Vada/Fried Potato Dumplings
Indulge if you may…A deep fried delight. Aloo = Potato; Vada = Dumpling (well deep fried in this case).
While the sound of Aloo Vada/Pakoda/Bhaji would easily make an Indian salivate (esp. on a rainy day), the translation above takes on a strange unfamiliar sound. The delightful spheres all of a sudden lost all the charm. To me it sounds not so Indian. What do you say?
Anyway.. as I had mentioned before that my MIL is here and I have gladly handed over the kitchen to her; well most of the times. I do not want to sound like the one who is making her do it all:-).To tell the truth we all are taking advantage of her visit. She is a wonderful cook and she has been cooking certain things to perfection for the longest time and is pretty renowned in the friends and family circle. I had merely been a helper in this project. The recipes are elaborate and I when I myself make them, I do not feel like taking pictures. So I had been postponing posting them indefinitely.
The particular recipe might not sound that difficult to make, but this is actually a prelude to Aloo Kofta (a yogurt based curry where these dumplings will be finally used). As the tradition runs in our family, these Aloo Vadas are made in excess when making the curry, as more than half of them are consumed as snacks while they are getting fried. I will be posting the Aloo Kofta soon. For now enjoy this sinful snack.
Note: Not to be confused with the Aloo Bonda recipe. This one here does not use any batter for outer coating like the Aloo Bonda.
Don’t forget H2Ope for Haiti! The raffle is open and live now, and will run till the 28th of February 7th March. Buy ticket for minimal price and you and win $50 Amazon gift card (my donation), or any other wonderful prizes listed there.
Aloo Vada/Fried Potato Dumplings
Ingredients: (makes about 50-60, depending on the size)
- 9 medium potatoes, boiled whole with skin
- 1/2 medium sized onion, very finely chopped
- 5 green chilli (more or less), very thinly sliced
- 1.5 teaspoons grated ginger
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, very finely chopped
- salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 cup besan/gram flour/chickpea flour
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- oil for deep frying
Preparation:Cool the boiled potatoes, peel them and mash them smooth making it as lump free as possible.
Combine all the other ingredients except the oil and mix & mash very well.
Divide the entire mix into 50-60 equal parts (approximate).
Keep a bowl of water to lightly wet the palm of your hands; roll each part mixture into a sphere in between the palm of your hands. (wetting your palms before rolling each time prevents the potato mix from sticking to your palms and also makes a smooth sphere).
Heat the oil in a wok. (There should be enough oil to cover the spheres completely when deep frying).
Deep fry the spheres about 6-7 at a time till they are golden brown.
Drain on paper towels.
Serve with ketchup/chutney/hot sauce as snacks.
The vadas come out light, airy and puffy on the inside. Taste great with the evening cup of tea, with drinks or just when they are getting fried while everyone hangs around the kitchen.
Related Posts:
lovely!!!
I have had aloo bonda , but never vada i didn’t even knew about it.
Looks so so good. Well think here too it will be same they will be consumed while frying them, so it ia a wise decesion to make more.
Sure looking forward to the curry too.
Yum !! Drool……:,)
YUM! Those fried potato dumplings look really scrumptious!
Yummy looking dumplings!
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh yummy! I’ve never had these before. I must try this out.
It is impossible not to succumb to that heavenly dumpling 🙂
Enjoy a wonderful weekend!
Gera
We usually coat with besan but this one is much easier and less mess 🙂 I am gonna resist now not to attempt in my kitchen! Absolutely delectable!
These look incredibly delicious! So golden brown and the insides look heavenly!
i think these must be more softer than regular Aloo bonda. what do you say? Look so tempting and refreshing. hmm…u r taking an advantage of your in-law. 😉 🙂
So delicious!! I love your blog. So glad to discover yours today.
Kind of round aloo tikkis … right? Khub crispy dekhte lagche. Gorom gorom darun! 🙂
Great looking aloo vada. Want to try it out as well. Looks very simpleas well.
Deepa
I am seeing this for the first time Soma (though I am familiar with Aloo Bonda). Looks good for this beautiful weather out here 🙂 Loved all the pictures, but the last 2 look very beautiful.
Wow, these look amazing.
Oh ,you mix the flour with the potato mixture. These are very similar to the bondas that we make but the potato balls are dipped in the flour batter.
Indo, These are actually NOT meant to be served as appetizers as the Aloo Bondas are. Mummy makes a Kofta Curry with these which I will post a few days later. These taste so good that we eat them by themselves. I make the bondas and other pakoras by dipping them in the batter.
Looks sooooo good, I have a soft spot for fried goodies! Yum!
Yummy, makes me hungry just looking at these
These look so inviting! I could just gobble them up.
I was actually wondering when your MIL is gonna take over…and here it is. lovely recipe soma. never made or had them but ooks delicious.
Gorgeous! Lovely snacks!
These look AMAZINGLY good. YUM!! Bookmarked!
Oh my God….nostalgia just hit me! These remind me of graduate school back in India…friends, the college canteen, huddling under waterproof sheets during monsoon….
Absolutely inviting recipe Soma:) I could easily have some:) lovely clicks:)
Oh these looks so inviting, i would love to grab few with some spicy green chutney..perfect snack!
These look delightful, I love that fiery red color too!
These look so delicious that they would never make it to the table in my house! I would snack on all of them as soon as they were cool enough to touch.
Ki daarun dekhte..awesome snaps…ami aloor kofta curry tao porlam…lovely colour and nice recipe…planning to make it soon 🙂 thik-i eishob fry korar samay-i half khaoa hoye jay…ami ajkei bikele daal-er bora korlam….kintu second batch ta oil-e debar porei first batch sesh hoye gelo 😛
Can these be made ahead..how can I store them?
Yes you can make them a day or two ahead, not more than that. after deep frying them, spread them on paper towel; let them cool down completely. Put them in a ziploc bag, let out as much air as possible from the bag and zip it. Store it in the refrigerator (not freezer). If you want to serve these as appetizer you can warm them in the oven/toaster oven at medium temperature. (If you are reheating them to serve, make sure while deep frying them that they are golden brown and not dark brown as during the re heating process they might get darker). May be re heated in the microwave too, but won’t be crisp.. .will get soggy on the outside.
I had been searching for the recipe, but did not know what word to use. Found the potato vada recipe here, cooked them per the given method, voila! Mucho delicioso! Everyone loved them, and I will cook them again and again.
i made a mess they fell appart only used one potato suppose goT my quanTities wrong can you sclale down the quantities?
can you reduce quantities mine fell appart using one potato