Vada: Wash dal 3-4 times. Soak it in water for 3-4 hrs. Grind it smooth using chilled water, ONLY AS MUCH AS IS REQUIRED TO GRIND.

Run the cake mixer till it gets light, smooth and frothy like whipped cream

Add the rest of the ingredients and lightly fold them in keeping the air bubbles intact. Keep aside until it's almost time to serve.

Make vadas just before serving. Heat up oil moderately in a deep frying pan. To shape the vadas, dip your hand in cold water & scoop out a lemon size portion of the batter from the bowl & carefully drop it into the hot oil, add other portions similar & then immediately splash hot oil over the vadas so that they puff up & then fry over medium flame while flipping it at regular intervals until light golden brown.

The very soft and spongy vadas are ready. Serve the immediately with steaming hot rasam.

Tip: take vadas in a plate, pour steaming hot rasam over them and start consuming right away. These vadas are so soft and the rasam is so light that they soak rasam immediately. Keeping them in the rasam for longer will make them soggy. The vadas can also be served with Chutneys. This same batter can be used for meduvada and dahi vada (skip curry leaves for dahi vada). These vadas turn out to be like neighbour sofia's!

Rasam masala: Dry roast the dry chillies on the lowest flame just until they get crunchy. Take them off the pan. Take ghee in the same pan. Keep the flame to the lowest. Add chana dal & toor dal. Roast till they get golden pink and release aroma. Add cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black pepper corns. Roast till they get light brown. Then add curry leaves, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida powder. Roast for 2 seconds and then turn off the stove.

Rasam: Wash and soak toor dal for at least 2 hours. Add 2 cups of water and a pinch of turmeric powder and pressure cook it for 3-5 whistles. Blend it smooth once cooked well.

Heat up oil in a sauce pan. Add in the red chillies, mustard seeds, curry leaves, green chilli & garlic, stir well & cook briefly. Add asafoetida, tomato, salt & coriander stem, stir well & cook until the tomatoes get mushy and oil oozes.

Add turmeric powder and tamarind pulp and cook till oil oozes. Add hot water, jaggery, salt and toor dal. Bring it to a simmer, reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 min. If at any point it feels thick, adjust the consistency by adding hot water to it. You may have to adjust the spices then after. If the tanginess feels less, add lemon juice. Rasam is supposed to be watery and deliciously tangy.

Add rasam powder to a bowl along with a few tablespoons of water, stir well until no lumps remain & add the mixture to the rasam & stir well.
Taste & adjust the salt at this stage & add crushed black peppercorns along with fresh coriander, stir & cook for 2-3 minutes, the rasam is ready. (TIP: masala made with any of the two methods given above will give the same result.)