Rasam Vada/Crisp lentil dumplings in a spiced tomato soup

This has been in my drafts folder forever. Not sure why it never made it out the door, well at least not until now. Guess I was waiting for the right moment. Talking about the right moment, these crispy dumplings soaked in the spicy soup is just perfect while you wait in the comfort of your home for that first snow, not that it ever snows here in south Florida. This dish hails from southern India but has come to be popular in all parts of the country of course with the details varying on how its done every couple hundred miles. Here I present how I like to do them. Hubs is a big fan of this and when I pulled out this recipe from my drafts, I did get to hear a mouthful on how I haven't made these for him in a while. When you take a spoonful into your mouth, while you enjoy the crispiness from the dumplings, the spicy soup kicks in and makes it just a delightful mix of flavors on your palate. The recipe is not too tricky either. It uses simple ingredients including the Rasam powder that are easily available in any Indian grocery store. And yes, if you cannot get the  donut shape right, it is perfectly okay to just shape the dumplings as regular dough balls.

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Vada Pav-The Indian Burger

The Indian Burger! That would best describe the Vada-pav, it is  one of the most loved street food in India.

Indigenous to Maharashtra  a state in Western India, Vada Pav has iconic status in the country. It is even a staple for some feeding thousands of people every day. It used to be "poor man's food", but these days even the rich and famous can be spotted enjoying it at Mumbai's (the erstwhile Bombay) numerous roadside food stalls!

Vada is spicy mashed potatoes balls coated with a batter of gram flour, deep fried in oil. Pav is a soft, slightly squarish bread smeared with a hot and spicy garlic chutney, then the vada is tucked inside the slit bread and is served with fried green chilli on the side... mmmm... you take a big flavorful bite of the scrumptious vada pav then take a bite into the fried chilli... am salivating already :) Both hubby and I are great fans. He used to have this very often during his bachelor days in Pune (India) and often tells me about the famous road side vendor where he used to always eat it whenver he came back from work.
Made it yesterday evening and served him after he got back from work. I could tell he was pleasantly surprised as I got the expected big grin on his face for which I was waiting :) To top it all, it was raining which made for the perfect weather to have this roadside delicacy.

Here's it goes -

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