Kabuli Chana Vada in Air Fryer

The other day, I made kabuli chhole but accidentally I soaked more kabuli chana than required. I must blame my diminished sense of measurement at night when I was extremely tired. With all the sleep in my eyes and in an attempt to go to bed hurriedly, I soaked more chana than what I should have. There was no way out but to cook all of it the next morning.

However, I did not want to waste the chana, I never waste any food. Why shouldn't we waste food and save it doesn't need to be explained. Just see the picture below and you would feel like not taking more food in your plate next time.

Let's come back to my recipe of Kabuli chana vada that I made in Air fryer. Apart from not wasting food, I also love to eat low calorie food. And this, of course, means a big NO to fried foods. But you would agree with me, nothing tastes like fried foods. Why is it so that all the tasty foods are not healthy? But let's keep this discussion open (may be in the comments section!) and move to our calorie free recipe of Kabuli chana vada made in the air fryer.

I was telling you, I did not want to waste the extra kabuli chana that I soaked overnight by mistake. So, after boiling all the chana in the pressure cooker, I removed the extra quantity and kept it aside to use it later in some other way. I thought of various things that can be made with it. There was the ultra healthy option of making hummus. As I got the idea of hummus, my mind asked, why not falafel? Then the reply came, you don't have all those herbs that go into the making of falafel. And with this emerged another idea. Why not make the Indian version of falafel! Yes, I then made Kabuli chana vada in Air fryer to make it superior than it's inspiring version. Yes, while classic falafel is made by deep frying the ground chickpea balls, this version called Kabuli chana vada was made in air fryer with only 2 tsp of oil!

So, what all do you need to make kabuli chana vada in airfryer? Here's the list.

Collect these ingredients for Air Fried Kabuli Chana Vada

Soaked and cooked (boiled) kabuli chana- 1-2 cups
Onion- medium (finely chopped)- 1
Green chili (optional)- 1-2 (based upon your tongue's endurance level!)
Ginger (grated)- 1 tsp
Red chili powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt- as per taste
Turmeric- a pinch of it (just to bring some color)
Coriander leaves (chopped)- 1/4 cup
Oil- 2-3 tsp

You may include more ingredients like chat masala, black pepper, garam masala, amchur powder etc. I like to use only a handful of flavorful ingredients and thus the above short list of ingredients. You can make it really spicy though!

How to make Kabuli Chana Vada in Air Fryer?

Mash the cooked kabuli chana coarsely. You don't need to make it a fine paste like thing. Keep it slightly coarse to feel the texture of the vadas.
Add onion, chilli and all the other spices, herbs and ingredients.
Mix well

Now take some of the mashed thing onto your palm and make a ball of a size of a big lemon
Flatten the balls using gentle pressure of your palm or fingers.

Now brush a little oil all over the flattened balls made with mashed kabuli chana.

Pre heat the air fryer for 5 minutes at 180 degrees
Brush the wire rack of the basket of your air fryer with oil
Arrange the flat kabuli chana patties inside the air fryer basket

Keeping the same temperature (180 degrees), air fry the vadas for 12-15 minutes. If they don't turn golden brown, fry for some more time.
Once they are ready, your kabuli chana vadas will look like this: