Uzhuntha Vadai / Medhu Vadai, a Indian savory donuts made from the urad dal batter. It's one of the famous tea time snack across South India. It's absolutely delicious with crispy outside & soft inside
More than a snacks, we(South Indians) serve this vada as a accompaniment for breakfast, lunch meals when there is a festival and on all important occasions in the family. This vadai is so good on its own and you don't need any sauce /chutney for this.
But in some restaurants this vada is served with coconut chutney and/or sambar, so if you like that, you can serve like that too. With a cup of chai, this vadai tastes divine on rainy days !
How to make crispy outside and soft inside medhu vadai
- The key to make delicious vadai is the batter consistency. Once you get that right, everything else will be so easy !
- Make sure to use good quality urad dal batter.
- Make sure the urad dal is well soaked before grinding.
- If you have wet grinder, use that to grind the urad dal batter. Without much efforts, you can get the fluffy batter.
- If you're using the mixie/blender, make sure to use the ice cold water for grinding the batter. The ice water helps to avoid the batter & jar get heated while grinding and helps to get fluffy batter.
- While grinding, add water little by little for smooth fluffy batter. If you add all the water in the beginning, then the batter would be watery instead of fluffy.
How to make vadai absorbs less oil ?
- Don't add too much water while grinding the vadai batter.
- Add water little by little to make fluffy batter.
- Add the onions right before making the vada. Onions releases water over the time and make the batter water if you keep it for longer time.
- If the batter is watery then add a couple of tsp of rice flour, it will helps to absorb less oil while frying and also helps to hold the vada shape well.
How to make round Vada/ Vadai?
- If you're a beginner, then i would recommend to use any polythene sheets or banana leaf to flatten the batter before adding into hot oil .
- I have seen videos of shaping vadai using tea stainer. Dip the back of the metal tea strainer in the water and then take a small amount of batter and place it on back of the strainer and make a hole in the center and then drop it in the oil.
- By practise, you can easily shape the vada using single hand like i did.
Uzhuntha vadai | Medhu Vada
Preparation Time : 2 hrs | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Makes : 12
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Category: Snacks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Onion(small) - 1
Green chili - 1
Curry leaves - few
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying
Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Onion(small) - 1
Green chili - 1
Curry leaves - few
Salt - to taste
Oil - for frying
Procedure
Soak the urad dal for 2 hrs. In the meantime, chop the onions, chili into small pieces and keep aside. Drain the water from urad dal and add into the mixie/blender jar.
Add ice cold water little by little into urad dal and grind into thick batter. Take the batter in a bowl and add the chopped onions, chilies curry leaves & salt into it.
Mix it well and now the batter is ready to make vada. Heat the oil for deep frying. Deep your hand in water and take a small amount of batter.
Make a hole in the center of the batter with your thumb.
Gently drop into the hot oil and cook on both sides until it becomes crispy and golden brown on both sides. Remove it from oil and put it on tissue paper. Do the same for the remaining batter.
Crispy Uzhuntha Vadai/ Medhu Vada is ready. Serve it with chutney and / or sambar.
Related : How to make Coconut Chutney
Related : How to make Urad dal Egg Bonda
- Use good amount of curry leaves, it gives nice flavor to the vada.
- If you're not comfortable in making shape in hand, then use the polythene sheets/banana leaf to make the round shape.
- Use good quality urad dal for fluffy batter.
- Add water little by little while making the batter.
- If you can't shape the batter, then add few tsp of rice flour & mix well.
- Ice cold water is must to get fluffy batter if you grind it in mixie/blender.
hmm. yummy...
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