Jhunka Vada Recipe | Oil-free Zunka Bhakar

Vegan Jhunka Vada Recipe

If you already prepare jhunka vade at home, simply replace the oil and green chili with a garnish of black pepper powder and almond powder to make it a healing dish!

Jhunka vade is a mouth watering steamed vada from North Karnataka and Maharashtrian cuisine, made with gram / besan flour.

It is generally served with Jowar roti or bhakri. There are two versions of jhunka – one is a gravy, called jhunka in Karnataka and Pithla in Maharashtra. The other is this recipe, Jhunka vade, a solid preparation. Jhunka vade is very easy to make and requires very few ingredients. People use it for weddings or festivals to serve many people easily. It is also popular among the poorer classes.

If you already prepare jhunka vade at home, simply replace the oil and green chili with a garnish of black pepper powder and almond powder to make it a healing dish! 🙂

Recipe by Prathima Prashanth, Health Coach & Plant-based Cooking Expert, NutritionScience.in

Whole Food Plant Based Jhunka Vada Recipe

Course: Side Dish for Course 3 (Grain Dishes) at Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Maharashtra Recipe & North Karnataka Recipe from South India
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

Jhunka

1/2 cup Besan flour gram flour
1 cup Water
2 tsp Miso Paste

Seasoning

2 cups Cabbage chopped
1 Onion chopped
1 tsp Curry leaves / kadi patta
1/2 tsp Fresh Ginger peeled & crushed
1/2 tsp Black Pepper crushed, fresh green pepper if available
1/2 tsp Jeera crushed
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

Garnishing

1 tbsp Almond Powder
1 tsp Black sesame seeds
2 tsp Coriander leaves chopped

Instructions

1. Prepare the ingredients so that you can use them easily!
2. Mix 1/2 cup besan flour with 1/2 cup water so no lumps are formed. Add the rest of the water, mix well to get thin dosa batter like consistency and keep aside.
3. Dry roast jeera, crushed ginger, curry leaves, chopped onions and cabbage on an iron vessel. Add a few tsp water if required, to prevent them from getting burnt.
4. Once onions are cooked, start adding the besan batter slowly and keep stirring till it thickens. Add black pepper powder, roasted mustard seeds and miso paste when it is almost done. Stir well.
5. Once it cooks well and thickens, wet a wooden board with plain water and pour jhunka on it to make jhunka vada. Sprinkle almond powder to garnish. Leave it to cool for a few minutes, then cut it into different shapes once it becomes solid.
6. Serve jhunka vada with fresh bajra bhakri! 🙂

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Jhunka Vada Recipe

1. Jhunka gravy can be prepared by using 1/2 cup besan flour and 2 cups water. After seasoning, 1 cup water should be boiled first (like how we make upma) and then batter should be added and stirred till it is cooked.
2. Plain junka vade with just miso paste can be used as paneer replacements in other recipes.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Jhunka Vada Recipe

1. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
2. Why legumes? Legumes are the #1 number food associated with long life in many recent large studies! They also fuel your gut microbiome through their resistant starch content and slow down glucose absorption, keeping your blood sugar levels steady - even in the next meal! This has been called the Second Meal Effect. This recipe is one of the yummiest ways to include pulses and legumes in your daily diet.
3. Why not tadka? Tadka, thaaLippu, oggaraNe. Tempering spices in oil is quintessential to Indian cuisine. This practice may have started as a compromise when whole nuts were unavailable, and indeed, is more common in inland, drier areas where nuts do not grow easily, all year round. You can enjoy the taste and fragrance, though, by just dry roasting the spices you require, without the oil, or even better, mixing spice powders directly into your dish!