Kheema Vada curry

is a traditional South Indian dish

which is normally served with idli's,
dosas or appams. Vada curry is
usually an vegetarian dish made
with lentil fritters which is crumbled
and made into an thick spicy
gravy. The recipe which I have
given here is with ground meat
and lentils, you can also use the
same recipe without any meat.

Ingredients:
For vadai:
Ground meat- 200 g
Chana dhal- 100 g
Dried red chilly- 2
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 5 leaves
Coriander leaves- 1 stalk
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Oil for frying
Salt to taste
For the gravy:
Onion- 1 big sized sliced finely
Tomato- 1 big sized chopped
finely
Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp
Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Green chilly- 1
Mint Leaves- 1 stalk
Coriander leaves- 2 stalk
Coconut milk- 100 ml
Oil- 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
For Seasoning:
Cinnamon Stick- 1/2 inch stick
Bay leaves- 1
Fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves- 1 stalk

Method:
Prepare the vadai:
Soak the chana dhal in water for 2 hours. Grind into a coarse paste along with dried chilly, fennel, curry
leaves and coriander leaves. Add the ground chana dhal along with ground meat, salt and garam
masala, mix it well.
Heat oil in a kadai enough for deep frying. Drop a small portion of mixture in the oil and check if it's hot
enough for frying. If the mixture comes to the top sizzling, then the oil is ready to fry.
Make small patties of the mixture. Drop 2 to 3 at a time and deep fry until they look golden brown.
Prepare the gravy:
Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, when they start spluttering, add the seasoning ingredients
one by one. Then add the onion and ginger garlic paste, saute well. Keep the heat in medium to low,
cover the pan and cook until the onion looks completely soft and light brown in colour. Now add the
tomatoes, saute well, cover the pan and cook until the tomatoes go soft.
Add chilli powder, coriander powder and mix well. Then add half cup of water and cover the pan, cook in
medium heat for 5 minutes.
Crumble the vadas and add it to the gravy. Add the chopped mint and coriander leaves and mix well.
Finally add the coconut milk, green chilly and salt to taste. Let it cook for another 10 minutes until oil
separates and floats on top. Take it off from heat, sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves on top. Serve
warm with idli'd or dosas.