Wash chana dal very well and soak it for 1 hour in water. Discard the water and set aside to drain completely in a colander.

Add cabbage, salt, ginger paste, chilies, coriander leaves and 1/2 cup soaked chana dal.

Add rest of the chana dal to a blender and just pulse it without adding water, no grinding.Pulse it only a few times to keep the mixture coarse.

Add the ground mixture to the cabbage along with garam masala and red chilli powder. turmeric powder,and jeera.

Mix everything very well. Set this aside for 10 minutes.

Begin to heat oil for frying on a medium heat. After a while you will find the mixture has shrunk at bit and cabbage releases moisture. Add corn flour and mix again

The mixture at this stage should be binding well. If needed you can also add another tbsp of corn flour, this helps to keep the vada crisp. Divide the dough to 18-20 balls and flatten them with greased hands. Make sure the vada’s are not too thick else they will not cook well.

When the oil is hot enough, drop the vada one after the other. In each batch I fried about 5 -7 minutes.

Keep stirring and fry them until golden on both the sides. Drain them on a kitchen tissue.

Cabbage vada are best served hot with pudina chutney and tomato sauce.