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Set foot in Rajasthan and you’ll find a plethora of deep-fried delights being prepared early in the morning. Having something hot and crispy for breakfast is how the locals like to start their day. From kachoris to pooris and vadas, the Rajasthani breakfast platter is replete with all sorts of delicacies.
Wait, did we say vadas? Oh yes, we did. While many associate the bite-sized snack with South India, you’ll find some versions of it being cooked in the northern parts of the country too. For the unversed, a vada is a fried snack that is usually made with a combination of lentils and flour. The batter is shaped like a doughnut, dumpling or simply, a fritter and paired with chutneys and other condiments. While the popular ones like medu vada and dahi vada come packed with sambar and dahi respectively, the Rajasthani kalmi vada is slightly different.
Made with chana dal, the vada is stuffed with green chillies, onions, coriander leaves, and a host of other spices. The batter is dunked in a kadhai full of hot oil and shaped in an elongated manner. The crispy and deep-fried bite turns out to be golden-brown once it is properly cooked and is best served hot with the classic Rajasthani lehsun ki chutney. However, it isn’t just chana dal that is used to make this hot breakfast treat. Lentils like urad dal can also be used in the batter.
The vada is usually fried in a certain way, giving it the super crunchy texture. First, the vada is fried in huge chunks. Once it is half-fried, it is taken out and cut into strips. Then, the strips are refried, which lends the kalmi vada an extremely crunchy exterior with a soft filling inside. Vegetables, like spinach, are also added to the batter sometimes to amp up the nutritional value of the dish.
The good part about kalmi vada is that it can be eaten at any time of the day. While breakfast is definitely an option, the easy-to-eat delight also doubles as a tea time snack. Best paired with chutney and chai, kalmi vada is all you need on a cold winter evening. Interestingly, the vada is not just eaten alone but often added to chaats too. Given the country’s fascination towards street food and chatpata bites, the vada chunks are often dunked in dahi chaat and other forms of street fare too.
What is important to note here is that there are several other deep-fried breakfast treats from the region that one can devour. From bedmi and palak poori to kadhi kachori and mirchi bada, there is no dearth of crispy delights at the breakfast table.
