Punjabi Wadi are sun dried lentil and spice dumplings made with ground lentil batter. This Vadi recipe is made with fresh green chickpeas and moong dal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 120 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 120 minutes
  • Yield: 1 · 1 medium jar
  • Category: Condiment
  • Cuisine: Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 1 cup fresh green chickpeas
  • 1 cup mung dal (or urad dal)
  • 3 to 4 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon asafoetida ((hing) - the light variety)
  • 2 teaspoon cloves (or ½ teaspoon clove powder)
  • 2 teaspoon black peppercorns (or crushed black pepper)
  • salt (as required)

Method

Preparing the lentil batter

  1. Soak the fresh chickpeas in water for 2 to 3 hours.
  2. Also soak the mung dal or urad dal for 2 to 3 hours.
  3. Drain the chickpeas and grind it with very little water or no water to a fine, smooth and thick paste.
  4. Also grind the mung dal or urad dal with very little water or no water to a thick and fine, smooth paste.
  5. In a large bowl mix together both the chickpea paste and the mung dal or urad dal paste.
  6. Add all the spices and salt and mix well.

Sun-drying Vadi

  1. Take a large tray/plate or food safe plastic sheet.
  2. Keep the tray/plate on a mat in the sun.
  3. Drop spoonful of the the wadi mixture on the plate/tray or plastic sheet.
  4. You can shape them in small circles with the back of the spoon.
  5. Dry them in the sun for 2 to 3 days till they become hard.
  6. When one side is dried, then turn the wadis and dry the other side.
  7. You will have to turn these wadis a couple of times to ensure even drying.
  8. When done, store all the punjabi wadis in an air tight container.

Adding the vadis to any dish

  1. Rinse the vadis in water.
  2. Then add them to any veggie or rice based dish.
  3. Let them cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
  4. The vadis will become soft when cooked.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.