Vada Curry Recipe using Steamed Vadas/Chennai Special Vada Curry/Oil-free Vada Curry | Sujan Fun Kitchen

Vada Curry - try making this without oil; in a healthy way!
Vada Curry is a Madras special signature dish - it’s a yummy side dish for Idli or Dosa and readily available in all the popular restaurants of Chennai. Generally everybody relishes the Vada Curry only in restaurants; somehow not many people make it at home.. Rightly so; the oil content of the usual Vada Curry recipe is so high that people are dissuaded from making it at home. But, here’s my healthy twist to the recipe!
So, please hop into Sujan Fun Kitchen for the easy recipe of the scrumptious Vada Curry!
Ingredients for the Vada:
Bengal gram Dal - 1 cup
Red chillies - 4
Saunf/aniseed - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Method to make the Vada:
Soak the Bengal gram dal for ½ an hour so in water along with the saunf and red chillies
Then drain of water and grind coarsely to a paste
Add salt and mix well
Steam for 10 mins or 12 mins like idlis in a cooker
Crumble the steamed Dal and keep aside
Ingredients for the Vada Curry gravy:
Medium sized onions - 3
Medium size tomatoes - 6
Green chillies - 4
Grated ginger - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - to taste
Mustard seeds - ½ tsp
Saunf/aniseeds - 1 tsp
Oil - as required
Salt to taste
Curry leaves to garnish
Method to make the Vada Curry gravy:
Chop onions, tomatoes and green chillies very finely
Heat few tsps of refined oil
Splutter mustard seeds
Then splutter saunf/aniseeds
Now add the grated ginger, chopped green chillies and stir fry
Then add chopped onions and fry adding a pinch of salt till onions turn translucent
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook till everything tomatoes are cooked - over sim flame, closing with a lid
Open the lid and add water to make gravy
Add red chilli powder and salt as required
Let everything boil well together
Meanwhile optional step is to fry some cashewnuts in hot ghee separately till golden and keep aside
When the Vada Curry gravy is bubble boiling, add the crumbled Dal and toss everything together
Close with lid and cook for some mins - adjust with more water if required
Now, add some curry leaves and fried cashewnuts to the Vada Curry
Serve hot with Dosa or Idli or phulkas or Rotis