Ponk Vada | Jowar vada

Ponk vada recipe with step by step pictures. Crisp, tasty and spiced vadas made with fresh jowar grains. Gluten-Free and Vegan.

Tender jowar grains are called as ponk in Gujarati language and hurda in Marathi language.

Every winter I buy ponk and make some recipes with these small green grains. These fresh green jowar grains are tender, juicy and with slight sweet notes. Thus these Crisp vada also have slight sweet notes. they are spiced and have a faint chewy texture.

Every year I share at least one recipe made with ponk. for this year I am sharing ponk vada recipe. Ponk is easily available in maharashtra and Gujarat during the winter season. Along with ponk you also get to see fresh wheat and fresh bajra grains in the market.

The recipes which I have already shared with ponk or hurda are:

1. Ponk chaat
2. Sorghum upma
3. Hurda bhajji

Making ponk vada is very easy. grind the jowar grains. Mix besan, spices, herbs etc and then fry. Since they are easy to make, you can serve them as an evening snack with masala chai.

Even though this vada is made with fresh jowar, but you can also make them with dried jowar grains. Soak the jowar grains overnight and then grind them with very little water. Obviously the taste of vada made with dried jowar grains will be different than the vadas made with fresh green jowar.

You can serve ponk vada hot with any chutney or sauce or dip of your choice like coriander chutney or coriander mint chutney or garlic chives chutney or green chutney.

How to make Ponk Vada

A) grinding ponk:

1. Rinse 2 cups fresh tender jowar or ponk in water a couple of times in pan or colander. Drain all the water.

2. Then add the ponk in a grinder jar. Also add 1 green chili (chopped), 3 to 4 medium garlic cloves (chopped), 1 inch ginger, (chopped) and 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves.

3. Add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 teaspoon coriander seeds.

4. Grind to a coarse paste or a semi-fine paste. Do not add any water while grinding.

5. Take the ponk paste in a mixing bowl or pan.

6. Add ⅓ cup chopped onions.

7. Add ½ cup besan, 1 pinch turmeric powder, 1 pinch red chili powder and 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds. Also add salt as required.

8. Mix very well. Keep the vada mixture aside.

Frying ponk vada

9. Heat oil for deep frying in a heavy pan or heavy kadai. Take a tiny portion of the mixture and add in hot oil. If it comes up steadily and gradually on top, the oil is ready to be fried. Also it should not break in oil. If the tiny pakora breaks in oil, then add a few tablespoons of besan in the vada mixture.

10. Take a small to medium sized portion of the mixture and flatten it into a vada shape. If you cannot flatten mixture into vada, then you can even drop the mixture with a spoon and fry like a pakoda or bhajiya.

11. Gently place or slide the vada in the hot oil. Add as required depending on the size of kadai.

12. Fry on medium-low to medium flame. These vadas fry fast, so keep a check. The vadas which have been added before will turn golden before adding more vadas. So turn them once they turn golden.

13. Turn over again and continue to fry till they are crisp and golden. You can turn each vada a couple of times before frying.

14. Remove the fried hurda vada with a slotted spoon

15. Place them on kitchen paper towels for extra oil to be absorbed. In the same way fry remaining vada.

16. Serve ponk vada hot with any chutney or sauce or dip of your choice.

Few more snacks recipes for you!

1. Vazhaipoo vadai (banana flower vada)
2. Ulli vada
3. Thayir vadai
4. Potato vada

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