Mini Vada Sambar – My Winter Morning Breakfast

How the Soak Lentils for Breakfast

To make Vada, I soak lentils overnight and grind them in the morning. Leave it for ½ hour before shaping them to fry into vadas. So when I make vada in the morning, I usually make sure to get up ½ before, if it’s a week day. All you need is time management to pamper yourself with indulging hot breakfast…Do you agree…???

On that note let me share with you my family favorite breakfast | brunch recipe which is perfect treat on a rainy or winter day or makes a good winter meal too. As I am at mom’s house, I took full advantage of the situation and clicked pictures. Love you mom….. For making vadas | garelu I used the same recipe which I posted here. Just reduce the size to fit the term ‘mini’….

Mini Vada Sambar

ourse: Brunch, Main Course, Snack Cuisine: South Indian Cook Time: 30 Minutes 

Servings: 4 People Calories: 410 Cal Author: Lubna Karim

• 1 cup Toor dal
• 5-6 Shallots, peeled
• 1 Carrot, peeled and cut into 2’inch pieces
• 2 Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsp. Sambar powder, I used Priya sambar powder
• ¼ cup Tamarind, washed and soaked in ¾ cup water
• 1 tbsp. Red chili powder
• ½ tbsp. Turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp. Jaggery/Sugar
• Salt

• Oil
• ½ tbsp. Mustard seeds
• 8-10 fresh Curry leaves
• 1 dry Red chili
• pinch Asafoetida

To Assemble:

• 6-8 Vadas
• Sambar

How to make Sambar for Mini Vada Sambar:

• Add washed toor dal along with 2 cups of water to pressure cooker and cook for 2-3 whistles or until dal is soft. Using a wooden smasher, mash the dal to paste or grind to paste in mixer. Set aside.
• Now in a heavy bottom cooking vessel or kadai, add oil and to this add ingredients listed under tempering/tadka.
• When the curry leaves start to change color, add shallots (pearl onions), fry on high for 1 minute and add carrot pieces. Fry for another 1 minute and turn the flame to low by adding 1 cup of water.
• Cook till shallots are soft but not mushy. Now add chopped tomato pieces and fry till soft. Meanwhile extract tamarind juice by squeezing tamarind in water using your fingers. Discard the pulp and stain the water. Add
  this tamarind water to vegetables above along with salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, jaggery and sambar powder.
• Add mashed toor dal and 1 cup of water and combine everything using a spoon. Leave it to boil. Once sambar starts to boil, check for salt and adjust as per your taste.

Assembling Mini Sambar Vada:

• Take a bowl and add sambar to it. Drop in vadas which are at room temperature.
• Serve hot.