Oil-free Edamame and Sweet potato Vada – vegan.
Festivals are the time of the year to celebrate, rejoice and be thankful for everything in life. But also, festive times are notorious for eating often fried/ fatty foods. Most Indian festival dishes are incredibly delicious, while not exactly the healthiest options, in my opinion. Vegetarian foods dominate Indian festivals, but wonder why many dishes are based heavily on dairy and oil.
Vadas are normally the deep fried spiced lentil pancakes. Lentils need to be soaked overnight, which I forget to do seven out of ten times. And the batter often gives me trouble in giving the nice donut shape before I fry it.
So, I found my fix for these issues with this recipe which is almost made instantly in an air fryer with healthy ingredients and can be eaten at least half a dozen at a time, unlike the traditional vadas.
The air fryer, my beloved gadget, changed the way I cook a lot of the dishes that normally consume oil by the cups. I even tried pan frying these vadas and confirmed that this dish is better made in an air fryer, for superior texture and color.
The power of edamame, with the substantial sweet potato in a blend of spices and herbs, will make you cook this multiple times, I promise. Make it your festive food.
Oil free Edamame Sweetpotato Vada- air fried and vegan.
Equipment
- Pressure cooker or instant pot to cook sweet potatoes
- Air fryer
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen edamame – blanched
- 2 sweet potatoes- cooked
- 1/2 cup mint
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1/2 cup chopped spinach
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
- 1/4 cup frozen corn – blanched
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
Instructions
- Boil or pressure cook sweet potatoes. Peel skin off once cooled, mash and take it into a bowl.
- Add blanched edamame, corn, mint, cilantro, ginger, spinach to a blender/ food processor and grind into a coarse mixture.
- Add the blended mixture to cooked sweet potato in the bowl. Add the bread crumbs, salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder and sesame seeds. Mix well into a dough.
- Using your hands, make small patties that are about 3/4 inch- 1 inch thick and make a hole in the center like a donut. You might apply little oil on your hands to make patties without the dough sticking too much. You can add more sesame seeds on the top per your preference.You can just make the shapes of your choice, or use cookie molds as well. I made some heart shaped vedas for my little one.Line them on a wax paper to place in an air fryer basket or tray depending on your device.
- Airfry for 10-12 min at 385 F.
- Serve hot with green (mint) chutney or tamarind chutney or plum and date sauce ( posted in this blog, or in notes below), or even ketchup.
Notes
Plum date sauce
-
Take the cut plums, chopped dates, sugar, water in a sauce pan, and let it simmer on the stove on low heat for a good 45 min.
- Once you see the plums and dates soften , mash with a spoon. Add the red chili powder, cinnamon, cumin powder, black pepper, salt. Mix and take off the stove when its sauce like. If you wait too long, it will become a chutney kind of consistency. You can blend it for more smooth texture or leave it slightly chunky after mashing. If you choose to blend it, wait till it cools off for 15-20 min before blending, to prevent spill off form the blender jar.
- This sauce can be stored in the fridge for upto 2 weeks in air tight jar.