From Ram laddu to Masala vade: Easy monsoon snacks that deserve a spot on your rainy-day menu

Make the most of the rainy season with these easy monsoon snacks everyone will love. Here’s the breakdown of the recipes.

Rainy evenings call for comfort food. If you want to make the most of the rainy season, try these delicious snack recipes that will add a flavour to your evenings. These snacks are so easy to make that you can turn every rainy evening into a treat. Here’s the breakdown of the recipes.

Ram laddu

Chef Naman Gulati shared this crispy, tangy, and spicy recipe that you will need to spice up your rainy evenings.

Serves: 3–4

Prep time: 20 minutes (+4 hours soaking)

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

For the laddus

• One cup yellow moong dal, soaked for 4 hours

• One-fourth cup chana dal, soaked for 4 hours

• One tsp grated ginger

• One to two green chillies, finely chopped

• Half tsp cumin seeds

• Salt to taste

• Oil for frying

For the radish chutney

• One medium mooli, grated and squeezed dry

• Two tbsp fresh coriander

• One tbsp mint leaves

• One green chilli

• One tsp lemon juice

• Half tsp kala namak

• Half tsp roasted cumin powder

• Salt to taste

To serve

• Chaat masala

• Red chilli powder

• Fresh coriander

Ram laddu recipe to try at home. (Pexel)

Method

Here’s the step-by-step process to make Ram laddu at home:

Step 1 — Soak the dals

Wash and soak moong and chana dal together for at least 4 hours. Drain well and pat dry.

Step 2 — Make the batter

Grind the dals with ginger and green chillies into a coarse paste without adding any water. Add cumin seeds and salt, mix well.

Step 3 — Fry the laddus

Heat oil on medium flame. Wet your hands, shape small round balls from the batter and fry in batches until golden and crisp, about 4–5 minutes. Drain on a rack.

Step 4 — Make the chutney

Blend mooli, coriander, mint, green chilli, lemon juice, kala namak, and cumin powder into a coarse chutney. Adjust salt to taste.

Step 5 — Serve

Plate the laddus, spoon chutney generously on top, and finish with chaat masala and red chilli powder. Eat hot.

Masala vade

Chef Kenneth Gopinath shared this masala vade recipe that you can try on rainy days. It is crisp on the outside, soft yet grainy inside with bursts of curry leaves, ginger, cinnamon, clove and sweet onions in every bite.

Ingredients

Chana dal (Bengal gram) – One cup

Raw rice – Two tbsp (optional, for extra crispness)

Onion, finely chopped – One large-sized

Green chillies, finely chopped – 3-5 depending upon the spice preference.

Ginger – Three inches

Garlic – 20 cloves

Curry leaves, chopped – Two tbsp

Coriander leaves, chopped – One fourth cup

Dill leaves - One fourth cup

Fennel seeds – One and a half tsp

Whole black pepper – Half tsp, lightly crushed

Asafoetida (hing) – One-fourth tsp

Salt – One and a fourth cup tsp (or to taste)

Hot oil – One tbsp (secret for better texture)

Oil for deep frying

Masala vade recipe to try at home. (Pexel)

Method

Here’s the step-by-step process to make vadai at home:

Step 1: Soak channa dal for about 4 hours and soak rice in it for an hour.

Step 2: Grind them into a coarse mixture.

Step 3: Chop up the coriander leaves, onion, dill leaves into a small mixer grinder and add in the ginger, garlic, cinnamon, clove, fennel, green chilli and curry leaves into a medium coarse mixture again.

Step 4: Now mix everything, add salt and asafoetida.

Step 5: Pour over 2 tbsp of hot oil into the mixture and make a dough.

Step 6: Now, to shape them, roll some small balls.

Step 7: Press them between your palms. The centre needs to be a little bulged / fat, and the sides should be convex.

Step 8: To deep fry, add oil into a Kadai and add 1 inch tamarind in it. Once the oil is hot, deep fry until slightly darker golden brown on medium low flame.

Step 9: Serve hot.