Honagone soppu masala vada | How to make easy Sessile joyweed dal fritters

Honagone soppu or Sessile joyweed masala vada with step by step recipe and easy to follow video.

These are deep fried fritters made of chana dal, honagonne soppu and basic Indian spices. These are vegan, nut free, eggless and glutenfree snacks.

Ponnangani vadai or Alternanthera sessilis chana dal masala vada or Bengal gram patties are the other names given to these snacks.

These are deep fried that are crispy from outside and soft at the center. The soaked lentils are ground coarsely with other masalas.

Honagone soppu masala vada is a variant of traditional masala vada recipe. It is a variant of Karnataka style ambode. However, in coastal Karnataka houses urd dal is also added for aroma and texture.

Plain masala vada are prepared during most of the festive seasons in South Indian family.

These fried south Indian lentil cakes are a perfect teatime snack. These are perfect festive savory dish as well.

This dal-based snack is a common snack recipe in South India. This is one such simple dairy free and glutenfree recipe that can be prepared during any family functions. In India honagone greens are available in market during rainy season. Try this recipe and I am sure you will like it.

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Honagone soppu / Ponnangani vadai / Alternanthera sessilis / Sessile joyweed – A healthy weed

Few words about this wonder plant. These are basically aquatic plants and is called by many names in India like ponnangani (in tamil) honagone (in kannada) and ponnaganti (in Telugu).

They have many health benefits and culinary uses. A more read on the same click here

These are mostly used as vegetables in regions of South of India. Tender leaves are used in salads, gravies, side dishes like sambar and stir fry.

Since these fritters are deep fried, we cannot categorize them under healthy snacks however they make a delicious irresistible evening snacks or South Indian street food

On a caution note, I would suggest buying these greens from a reliable source as I have read that these are also confused with other poisonous weed which are similar looking to honagone soppu.

What is honagone soppu masala vada made of?

Let’s see what makes this tasty and aromatic honagone soppu masala vada

The main ingredients to this recipe is chana dal or split bengal gram and honagone soppu.

Chana dal or split bengal gram or kadale bele (affiliate link)

Honagone soppu or Sessile joyweed or Alternanthera sessilis or ponnangani

Onion  

Fresh Coconut is grated and used. This gives nice soft texture and adds to aroma of masala vada.

Fresh curry leaves or karibevu

Ginger

Carom seeds or om kalugalu or ajwain (affiliate link)

Green chilies and salt as per taste is used

Rice flour for getting crispy edge of vada (affiliate link)

Preparation for Honagone soppu masala vada recipe

Let’s see a detailed stepwise recipe of honagone soppu masala vada

Soaking and preparation of batter

First important step is to soak chana dal in water (approximately 2 to 3 cups) for 3 hours. Drain water and keep these chana dal aside for further use.

Always use a mixer grinder to make a coarse powder of dal. Do not use wet grinder as this will make the mixture into fine paste. Fine paste is not required for this recipe.

Take a mixer jar and add half of the soaked chana dal. Next add chopped onion, grated fresh coconut, curry leaves, grated ginger, carom seeds and green chilies.

Churn this mixture into coarse texture. Now add the remaining soaked chana dal, salt and honagone soppu. Grind this into coarse mixture.

At this stage the mixture can be either ground into fine paste or make it coarse as I have done it here.

Take this mixture in a mixing bowl, add rice flour and mix well. Next step is to make equal sized balls.

Flatten these balls on your palm or a parchment paper. Flatten all the vadas and keep them ready.

This makes the work easy and helps to deep fry them quickly. Make sure not to flatten them very thin.

Deep frying the masala vada

In the mean while heat oil in a deep wok sufficient for frying  2 or 3 dal vadas. 

Slowly drop the flattened vadas into the hot oil. Let the oil be at medium heat.

If the oil is extremely hot, the outer layer of vada turns dark and inside remains uncooked. So, make sure the oil is at right temperature.

Add only two or three vadas and do not over crowd while frying. This is mainly because the masala vadas remain uncooked.

Deep fry them until the vadas are golden in colour.

This is such an easy and quick recipe. They are incredibly delicious and make a great pair with coffee or tea.

Remove excess oil and put them on kitchen tissue paper. Serve these tasty honagone soppu masala vada.

Serving these masala vada

They can be served as it is or with chutney of your choice. They can be served as snacks or with any meal course.

How do I keep the chana dal masala vada crisp for long time?

Honagone soppu masala vada is crispy from outside and soft from inside. After deep frying these vada, do not close them with a lid. Allow them to cool completely.

If you close them, the moisture from hot vadas will make them soggy. If you plan to serve them after some time then cool and store these in airtight container.

However, I prefer serving them immediately, they are so tasty, crispy when hot and fresh.

Can masala vada be refrigerated?

The fried honagone soppu masala vada cannot be refrigerated. The vadas loose moisture and become hard.

However the dal batter can be refrigerated and used later for frying.

Important tips to get a perfect honagone soppu masala vada

There are some tricks and tips to get a perfect crispy dal vada which have given I detailed in coming paragraphs.

Water for soaking should be sufficient so that the dal should immerse properly, as they soak they swell and absorb the water.

Soaking the dal is an important step in preparing honagonne soppu masala vada. Soak chana dal for 3 hours. Do not soak the dal for long hours.

Remove or drain the water completely and do not leave any water in the dal before grinding. And also make sure not to add any water while grinding the dal.

Blending chana dal to a coarse thick consistency is important. If the dough is watery the vada becomes soggy and do not turn crunchy.

Do not shape the masala vada very thick, they become soggy after frying.

This lentil vada can be made by combining one or two combinations of lentils

The authentic traditional vada recipe do not have rice flour.

However, in this recipe we are adding the greens, to make sure there is no excess moisture, we add rice flour, and this also gives crispyness to masala vada.

Always cook in small batches and do not overcrowd the vada. This helps in even cooking of dal vada.

Variations of honagone soppu masala vada

My family likes the dal combination with any herbs or greens. So, use coriander leaves, honagone soppu, dill leaves or methi leaves.

In this recipe alternative to honagone soppu we can use dill leaves or methi leaves. This gives nice aroma to masala vada.

If you want to replace carom seeds, then best alternative to carom seeds is asafoetida.

You can always be innovative in adding and deleting the spices. However, I recommend making sure add ginger and carom seeds. This removes the vayu (as told in Ayurveda) due to chana dal.

Few of the deep fried snacks on blog are given below, do try these recipes

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