Lentil fritters are an absolute staple in Indian cuisine, and if you haven’t tried them out already, these air fried moong dal vadas might be the perfect recipe you need to try out. When paired with the flavorful and spicy green chutney, they make an excellent appetizer or evening snack, and are sure to be a total hit with everyone.
Scroll down and read on to discover everything you need to know about it.
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Ingredients For the Recipe
You’ll need two sets of ingredients to make the air fried moong dal vadas and the green chutney.
For the Vadas
- Yellow moong dal (soaked): 1 cup
- Ginger (roughly chopped): 2 tbsps
- Green chilies (roughly chopped): 2 tbsps
- Onions (finely chopped): ¼ cup
- Coriander seeds (crushed): 1 tbsp
- Black pepper (crushed): ½ tbsp
- Carom seeds (crushed): 1 tsp
- Red chili powder: ½ tsp
- Salt: ½ tsp
- Chickpea flour: 4 tbsps
For the Green chutney
- Coriander leaves: A bunch
- Mint leaves: ½ cup
- Garlic cloves: 8-10
- Green chilies: 3-5
- Salt: 2 tsps or as per taste
- Lemon juice: Half a lemon
How to Make the Air Fried Moong Dal Vada and the Green Chutney
Once you have all your ingredients ready, here’s the process you need to follow to make the vadas and the green chutney.
Pre-heat the air fryer at 400°F for 5 minutes.
Soak the yellow moong dal for at least an hour.
Next, take the soaked moong dal, ginger and green chilies and blend into a smooth paste. Avoid adding any water. If the paste is too thick then just add a tiny amount of water.
Transfer the paste into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. The mixture should be thick enough to hold shape. If required, add more chickpea flour.
Spray the air fryer basket with oil. (Optional)
Make roundels of the mixture and transfer them to the air fryer basket. Make as many as you can.
Cook them at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until the skin gets golden brown with textures.
Keep flipping them once or twice in between and brush some oil so that the skin gets heat evenly from all sides.
For the last 1 minute cook them at 400°F so that the exteriors of the vadas are crispy.
For the chutney, blend all the ingredients into a smooth paste.
Serve moong dal vadas hot with green chutney.
Frequently Asked Questions
You definitely can. Most other split lentils can be used to make fritters, but the best part of using moong dal is the fact that they can be crafted with minimal soaking. Most other lentils need to be soaked overnight or at least for 5-6 hours before they can be ground into a paste and be used for the recipe.
Split chana dal and split red lentils are two other excellent alternatives you can use, and if you want, you can also use a mixture of any two of these lentils to make the fritters. 
Remember to use a minimal amount of water while grinding the dal and turning it into a batter. The idea is to have a mixture that is thick enough to be roughly shaped by the palms of your hands.
If your batter has still turned out runny, you can fix it by adding a bit of breadcrumbs or mashed boiled potatoes into the mixture and thicken it up. 
Tips & Tricks to Make the Air Fried Moong Dal Vada
Think you’re ready to give the recipe a try? Wait up! Keep these additional tips and tricks in mind to make sure you nail the recipe.
- To make the air fried moong dal vadas extra crispy, add a teaspoon or more of rice flour into the batter.
- You can also make the vadas more nutritious by adding chopped greens of your choice into the batter right before you air fry them.
- Remember to grease the air fryer basket well to keep the vadas from sticking to the surface. You can also use a sheet of parchment paper instead.
- Overcrowding the air fryer basket with too many vadas is a big no-no. Leave a little space between each vada to allow it to cook through and have that perfect crispiness on all the sides.
- You might also want to flip the vadas midway through the cooking time to ensure that they are crisp from all the sides.
- Got any leftover vadas? You can refrigerate them in an airtight container for upto 3 days, and then air fry them when you want to serve them.
- You can also batch make the batter for the moong dal vadas, refrigerate it for 3 days, and make fresh vadas whenever you want to.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
These air fried moong dal vadas are savory and flavorful, and can be enjoyed on their own, or when paired with the green chutney, garlic chutney or any other dip of your choice. You could even just make do with ketchup if you want to.
Loved how easy it was to recreate this recipe? On the hunt for some more such crispy and crunchy snacks you can whip up using your air fryer? Here are a few good ideas to get you started.
- Air Fried Mirchi Bajjis with Tangy Surprise
- Air Fried Crumbed Fish with Mayo Dip
- Air Fried Amritsari Fish with Onion Salad and Green Chutney
📖 Recipe
Air Fried Moong Dal Vada With Green Chutney
Ingredients
Ingredients For the Vadas
- 1 cup Yellow moong dal, (soaked)
- 2 tablespoon Ginger , (roughly chopped)
- 2 tablespoon Green chilies , (roughly chopped)
- ¼ cup Onions , (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon Corinader seeds, (crushed)
- ½ tablespoon Black pepper , (crushed)
- 1 teaspoon Carom seeds , (crushed)
- ½ teaspoon Red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 4 tablespoon Chickpea flour
Ingredients For the Green chutney
- 1 bunch Coriander leaves
- ½ cup Mint leaves
- 10 pcs Garlic cloves
- 5 pcs Green chilies
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- ½ pcs Lemon juice
Instructions
- Pre-heat the air fryer at 400°F for 5 minutes.
- Soak the yellow moong dal for at least an hour.
- Next, take the soaked moong dal, ginger and green chilies and blend into a smooth paste. Avoid adding any water. If the paste is too thick then just add a tiny amount of water.
- Transfer the paste into a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. The mixture should be thick enough to hold shape. If required, add more chickpea flour.
- Spray the air fryer basket with oil. (Optional)
- Make roundels of the mixture and transfer them to the air fryer basket. Make as many as you can.
- Cook them at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until the skin gets golden brown with textures.
- Keep flipping them once or twice in between and brush some oil so that the skin gets heat evenly from all sides.
- For the last 1 minute cook them at 400°F so that the exteriors of the vadas are crispy.
- For the chutney, blend all the ingredients into a smooth paste.
- Serve moong dal vadas hot with green chutney.
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