Medhu Vadai

This snack item is very famous one in whole of south India. In Tamil Nadu almost all the hotels serve this with any breakfast item you order. Idli-vadai, pongal-vadai, dosa-vadai even with puri – vadai is served. This vadai has various names – medhu vadai, ulundhu vadai, sambar vadai, thair vadai, rasa vadai… Here is how I prepare it.

Ingredients:

Urad dal-  1 Cup or 200 grams

Onions – 50 grams

Green chilllies – 20 grams

Pepper – 5 grams

Rice flour – 1 spoon

Curry leaves – few

Salt – to taste

Oil – for frying

Method:

• Soak the urad dal in water for 4 hours. We can make medhu vada just by soaking the dal in water for 45 minutes but if we soak it for more hours then we would get more softer vadas
• After 4 hours, drain the water and add the urad dal to the mixer/grinder.
• Grind the urad dal first without adding water. Grind it into a soft paste by adding as little water as possible.
• Now take the urdal batter in a bowl and add salt and mix well. Add finely chopped onions, green chillies, curry leaves and pepper powder. Add the rice flour and mix well for about 2-3 minutes
• Now heat oil in a pan, and when the oil is hot, test it by dropping a little batter. If it raises immediately in oil, then we are ready to make vadas.
• We need to wet our hands and take a small quantity of the batter and roll it to a ball and make a small hole in the center and gently drop in the oil.
• When the vadas are fried enough in one side, use the spatula to turn it to other side.
• Allow the vadas to fry in oil in a medium flame and when bubbles ceases, we can take the vadas out of the oil.
• Dry it in a tissue paper to remove excess oil.

Serve hot with chutney or sauce.

Tips:

• If we are using a mixer to grind the urad dal, we might need to add more water. To overcome this, we can add little urad dal powder to the batter and mix well before making vadas.
• I have added onions and chilllies to this vada, so that it can be eaten without any side dish.
• I add one spoon of rice flour so that the vadas become crisp.

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