Cauliflower Vadai
Cauliflower Vadai
Vadai are fritters made out of cauliflower, much like pakora, but with a multitude of ingredients like curry leaves, cilantro, green chilies, mint, cashews, onions, ginger, and white poppy seeds added to the mix. Unlike pakora, the Vadai are shallow pan fried instead of deep fried, using significantly less oil.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower broken into florets
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 liters water
- 4 green chilies finely chopped
- 6 sprigs mint finely chopped
- 4 sprigs cilantro finely chopped
- 3 sprigs curry leaves finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger finely minced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground fennel
- 1 1/2 tbsp white poppy seeds
- 10 whole cashews finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in the turmeric, salt, and cauliflower florets. Simmer for 8 minutes. Remove from the pot and let cool.
- In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the cauliflower to the bowl. Using a potato masher, mash the cauliflower into very small pieces.
- Mix the cauliflower into the rest of the ingredients.
- Form the dough into small patties; about 1/4 cup per patty.
- Heat up 1/4” deep of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the patties into the pan, making sure to not overcrowd.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes a side until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
