Lentil Dumplings in Coconut & Yogurt Sauce(No Fry Thayir Vadai)

Thayir Vadai is a South Indian (Asian) delicacy which is normally prepared by deep frying lentil donuts and then soaking them in yogurt and ground coconut sauce. I am not a big fan of deep fried dishes and normally go for pan frying or baking instead. Because deep fried stuff normally loses its nutrition value and that's the reason I am not into deep frying. So don't think I am trying to avoid fat here, because I believe that low fat and no fat diets are a myth and fat is a key component that the body needs. Fats normally keep you feeling full reduce food cravings, but the source should be from Nuts, Avocados, Coconut Oil, Raw Unprocessed dairy etc. 

So coming back to the recipe have you seen the Aebleskiver Pan or Danish Cake Pan or the payiram pan. If not please do check it out. Lot of deep fried dishes can be made by pan frying using this cute little gadget. These dumplings are a good source of protein and calcium and are gluten free and grain free.

Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 20 Minutes

Serves  - Makes around 18 Appams

Ingredients

Mung Dal - 3/4 Cup (You can make this 1/2 Cup and Urad Dal 1/2 Cup too)

Urad Dal - 1/4 Cup

Green Chili - 2 or to taste

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Curry leaves few - optional

Asafoetida a small piece

Yogurt - 2 Cups

Grated coconut - 1 Cup

Green Chili - 2 to 4 or to taste

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Water - 1/4 Cup or more according to the thickness desired

Method

Making the Dumpling

1) Rinse and Soak Mung Dal and Urad Dal for at least an hour.

2) Drain the water and grind this into a fine batter after adding Green Chili, Salt, Ginger, Curry leaves, Asafoetida and little bit of water.

3) The batter should not be runny, but should be the same thickness of pancake batter.

4) Heat the Appam pan on medium heat and pour a drop of oil in each one of the hole.

5) Once the pan is hot enough pour the batter, cover and cook little crispy on one side.

6) Now turn the appam and cook the other side. You can add little bit of more oil to get a brown color on the other side too.

8) Remove the appam, when both the sides are well cooked

For the Sauce

1) Grind the coconut, green chili, ginger and salt by adding 1/4 cup of water into a fine paste.

2) To this add the yogurt and mix it thoroughly and keep it aside. (Add more water or salt depending on the consistency and taste you like)

The final step

1) Heat 4 Cups of water in a wide mouthed pan and once the water starts to boil, add the cooked 

appam/paniyaram/dumpling into them and leave them for a few seconds and remove them and keep them in a plate.

2) Repeat the same thing with all the dumplings and once they are cool enough to handle, slightly press them to squeeze out the excess water and to create  a flat shape.

3) Add this to the yogurt & coconut gravy and chill.

4) Garnish with grated carrots, chopped cilantro, raisins or boondi and serve.



Note - Traditional Thayir Vadai is made only with Urad Dal. Because of this pan fried version, the smell and taste of Urad Dal was very prominent which I didn't like and then made this combination of Mung Bean and urad dal. Mung bean is protein rich when compared to Urad dal. So nothing to loose.

Posted in: diabetic snacks, gluten free snacks, how to make thayir vadai, snack