Thursday, March 21, 2013

Medhu Vada/Ulundhu Vadai/Fried Urad dhal fritters | The Indian donut

The Indian donut!!! How does that sound... I am totally in love with that name and the donut, that goes without saying. Medu vadas dunked in sambar or curd is my favorite and the ones from Adyar Ananda Bhavan is love. Appa makes the best vadas, crispy, soft and total yumminess. He says the secret is beating the batter with a fork till its light and fluffy. I have tried making vadas, it was good but not like my appa's and so I never took the pain of making vadas after that.

Now don't think that I made this. Recipe courtesy: appa and Image courtesy: me. He makes vadas whenever he visits me and the last time he made it, I made it a point to click them. They were good, too good and I loved munching on them for tea. And the rest we dunked in sambar and had it for dinner alongside crispy dosas just like a typical South Indian. Nothing can beat a hearty dinner of dosas, vadas, sambar and coconut chutney.

Medu Vada a.k.a Ulundhu Vadai alias The Indian Savory Donut is a crispy fritter which is made from smoothly ground urad dhal seasoned with curry leaves, chillies, peppercorns, onions, salt and more. Some people even add grated carrots and cabbage to the batter. The trademark hole in the vada is a must for this recipe and I learnt it the hard way. The very first time I made vadas and that was after 2 years of marriage for Pongal, I had added more water and the batter was a bit runny. So forming the shapes was a bit tacky. Instead of making bondas, silly me us proceeded with the same shape sans the hole and the result!!! The vadas took a hell lot of time to cook in the middle that by the time they got cooked, the sides started burning... Thats why I say the hole is really really important for the perfect vadas.


~*What U Need*~
Urad dal/Ulutham paruppu - 3/4 cup, whole, de-skinned
Onion - 1,medium / Pearlonions - 10
Green chilli - 1
Ginger - 1 tbsp, grated
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Hing powder - a pinch
Salt, water - as needed
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Oil - for deep frying

How I made it:
Soak urad dal for 2 hours. Grind urad dal with very little water till fluffy. With a fork, beat till the mixture becomes light and fluffy, the whole idea is to incorporate air to the batter.

Add cumin seeds, peppercorns, salt, ginger, chopped onions, green chillies, and curry leaves. Mix everything.

Heat enough oil in kadai, wet your hand, make a small ball and using your thumb, make a hole in the middle and drop it in oil. Fry in medium flame, turn the vadais and fry till both the sides turn crisp and golden brown.

Serve hot with sambhar and coconut chutney.

** My Notes:
** You could roast the peppercorns and then add to the batter.
** Add some toasted cashews to make it richer.
** Adding more water will make the vadais to drink more oil. So add water just to keep the machine running.
** If your vadais are sticky then keep it in the fridge and then fry or else you could add a tsp of rice flour too.
** You could use an oiled plastic cover to shape the vadas too.
** I generally grind my batter in mixie, patting it water occasionally. You could do the same in grinder too.
** Use Pearl onions, it gives a unique flavor.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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46 comments:

  1. delicious and crispy vadas..

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  2. so crispy vada vimi - how do you get that shape - i always end up making them like bonda :)

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  3. My all time favorite vada! I too love sambar-vada & thayir-vada! Lucky you, your dad makes you vada! :)

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  4. Delicious and crispy vada.Bookmarked!!

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  5. Vada looks very delicious........... and crispy,perfect shape.

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  6. Love this anyday ...looks crispy and yum

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  7. Mehu vada - My favourite food . My amma used to make this very often . Thanks for posting
    http://www.followfoodiee.com/

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  8. Crispy vada..looks great..
    http://foody-buddy.blogspot.com/

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  9. Love to taste this with Pongal... yummy !!!
    http://recipe-excavator.blogspot.com

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  10. wow.. crispy vadais.. my fav.. like to have it anytime.. :)

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  11. I love vadas, my all time fav, it looks fab..

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  12. My fav vada for all season.... Looks yummm. Like the second picture vimitha...

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  13. The vadai looks so crisp and light.

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  14. Vadai is so perfect vimitha, round and crisp

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  15. All time favorite snack. Wish I could have this platter right now!

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  16. It's 5 in the evening, am gazing at your medhu vadas, virtually devouring it..

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  17. vimitha, can we prepare medhu vada in oven?? i love this but to be more health conscious i want to try in oven..

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    Replies
    1. Yes PT, you can try this... I am yet to. Will update soon... I browsed and saw this recipe by Sojo
      http://sojosmasala.blogspot.in/2012/03/baked-medu-vada.html

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  18. delicious and tempting vada... beautiful clicks...

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  19. I want some rite now,havent made medhuvadai since a long,wonderful and very irresistible crispy beauties.

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  20. My all time fav vada,never say no to this crispy fritters..

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  21. Love this vadai.Nice detailed explanation.

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  22. looks super crunchy and yummy ...
    (I thought of sending some entries to your blog event, but i dont qualify for some rules,I'm sorry)

    Shree
    http://easycooknbake.blogspot.com/

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  23. HI Vimitha, your Indian donut look very mouthwatering. It must be very tasty to go with the green chilli. Thanks for the step by step pictures. YUM!

    Have a nice weekend.

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  24. Crispy,crunchy & perfect with a cup of tea,Yummy!

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  25. Delicious medhu vadai Love it for my tea.

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  26. The Medhu vada look delicious and perfect!

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  27. Perfect and crisp vadas!! Drooling over here!!
    http://www.rita-bose-cooking.com/

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  28. Vimitha, I would love to taste your appa's vadai! I am very much a vadai fan and it's one of my weaknesses.

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  29. Vada looks perfect and nice clicks.

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  30. Love your blog, Happy to follow you. You can visit my blog when you find time :)

    http://kitchenista-welcometomykitchen.blogspot.com

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  31. my fav snack dunked in both sambar and chutney. i prepare in the same way.

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