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Soft drinks from Rajasthan

Kanji vada (Rajasthani mustard-water ferment)कांजी वड़ा

Kanji vada is a Rajasthani festive dish of fried moong-dal fritters soaked in a sour, pungent mustard water. Ground mustard seed, salt, chilli and asafoetida are stirred into water and left in a jar for a few days, stirred daily, until sharply sour. Only home recipes describe it; no study was found.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Kanji vada itself. Its own sources do not record how it is made, so the steps and scenes below are those of Kanji (black carrot), the closest documented soft drinks ferment, shown as a guide to the method, not as a record of Kanji vada.

Short entrySoft drinks2.2 days – 6 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHome recipes (maayeka.com and whiskaffair.com); amounts vary between them.
Ground yellow mustard seed[s1]
Salt, red chilli and asafoetida[s1]
Water[s1]
Fried moong-dal fritters (vada)Soaked in the finished kanji[s1]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the steps of Kanji (black carrot): 5 days – 10 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Purple carrots are washed and finely grated

Step 1 of 4 · steps of Kanji (black carrot)
Wash and grate the carrots
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: grated carrot.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Kanji vada is a Rajasthani festive dish of fried moong-dal fritters soaked in a sour, pungent mustard water. Ground mustard seed, salt, chilli and asafoetida are stirred into water and left in a jar for a few days, stirred daily, until sharply sour. Only home recipes describe it; no study was found. Made in 2 steps over 2.2 days – 6 days. The longest step, stir mustard, salt and spices into water and leave in a jar, takes 2–5 days (maayeka.com 2014 and whiskaffair.com kanji va…). Lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–5 daysReported[s1]Stir mustard, salt and spices into water and leave in a jar

What makes this one different

Kanji vada sours plain water with ground mustard seed and spices, not vegetables; the black carrot kanji of north India ferments carrots in salted water.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Black carrot kanjiCarrot and beet in salted water (see `kanji`).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [s1] maayeka.com 2014 and whiskaffair.com kanji vada recipes (2–5 days)other
  2. [s2] FAO Bulletin 134, ch. 6.3 (carrot kanji)gov