Vada (food)

History

According to K. T. Achaya, Vadai (Vada) was popular among ancient Tamils during 100 BCE – 300 CE. A type of vada is mentioned as "vataka" in Manasollasa, a 12th-century Sanskrit encyclopedia compiled by Someshvara III, who ruled from present-day Karnataka. In this recipe, green 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 and Uttar Pradesh 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, Guyana, Suriname, South Africa, Mauritius, and Fiji 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 chutneys or achars.

Preparation

Vadai  (Vada) may be made from legumes, sago or potatoes. Commonly used legumes include pigeon pea, chickpea, black gram and green gram. 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, curry leaves (sometimes previously sauteed), salt, chillies or black pepper grains. Often ginger and baking soda 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.