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Kara Vadai is one of the popular tea shop snack of Kanyakumari district and in Trivandrum. A simple to make crispy evening snack. It's a deep fried snack made with parboiled rice, chana dal, urad dal along with spices and herbs. This is a perfect evening snack along with hot tea/coffee! This vadai tastes much similar to our Adai Kunukku which is made from left over adai batter.

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Is it similar to Masal Vada?

Karavadai is slightly different from Masal Vada. For masala vada, bengal gram (Kadalaparuppu) is the main ingredient. Here idli rice or parboiled rice along with equal quantity of bengal gram and urad dal are used.
Also we add more masala spices like fennel, cinnamon, mint to masal vada. But this Kara vadai is simple with just red chili and ginger.
Also we don't need to shape this vada, we can just take small amount of this Karavadai batter, drop in oil and deep fry till it is crispy with golden brown color.

Tips for making Kara Vadai:

Conventionally Split Vatana (Pattani Paruppu) is used in place of chana dal. But if we don't have split vatana we can use chana dal.
Soak the rice and dal atleast for 2 hours.
We can grind the rice and dals in a mixer grinder itself. We can also grind in wet grinder. Wet grinder batter is always little more fluffy than mixer grinder batter.
To incorporate aeration, beat the batter for 2-3 mins.
Adding onions are optional. Instead we can add grated carrot.
Instead of grinding ginger along with soaked rice and dals, we can grate and add it to the vada batter.
Adjust the quantity of red chili according to your spice level.
First grind only half of the soaked dal+rice along with red chili and ginger to ensure the chili is ground smoothly. Then add the rest of dal+rice.
Add water little by little while grinding because we need thick batter not runny. If you accidentally add more water and the batter is runny, adjust with rice flour and besan. Too much rice flour makes the vada more crispy and hard to bite. So balance with besan too.
Damp your fingers and palm and then take the batter and drop in oil. Or you can use a small ladle or spoon to scoop out the batter and drop in oil.
Deep fry the vada in low flame patiently till the vada is golden brown on all sides.

If you like this Kara Vadai, then you can also try other evening snacks recipes

Thattai - Thattai is a South Indian snack traditionally made during Krishna Jeyanthi, Diwali and also for Karthigai Deepam. If we have rice flour and urad dal flour, then we can make this thattai very easily and quickly.
No onion No Garlic Paruppu Vada - We usually make Paruppu Vada for festivals, functions and as an offering to god. For such occassions while making the vadai, we don't add onion / garlic and masalas to the vadai, yet this vadai will be Crunchy, Yummy and Flavorful Vadai
Pattanam Pakoda - Pattanam Pakoda, a very popular street side snack in Chennai and many cities of TamilNadu. Crispy outside, soft inside this pakoda is so tasty and mouth-watering. Serve with hot tea/coffee and enjoy this delicious snack!

Recipe Card for Karavadai Recipe | Kara Vadai Recipe:

INSTRUCTIONS WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES

SOAKING

Take the parboiled rice, chana dal, urad dal in a vessel.

Add water and wash the rice and dals thoroughly.

Add fresh water to soak the rice and dals. Let the rice and dals soak for 2 hours

PREPARING VADA BATTER

After 2 hours, drain water from the soaked dal+rice.

Take half quantity of soaked rice+dal to the mixer jar.

Add red chili and ginger.

Close the mixer jar and grind it without adding water till the red chili is fully ground.

Then, add the rest of the soaked dal+rice to the mixer jar. Add water little by little and grind it to thick batter.

Stir the batter for 2-3 mins.

To the ground vada batter, add salt, chopped onions, chopped coriander leaves and curry leaves.

Give a good mix. Now vada batter is ready!

DEEP FRYING

Heat 2 cups of oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Check the hotness of oil by dropping a pinch of batter and see if it raises immedietaly. Wet your fingers and palm with water. Take lemon size batter.