My Culinary Trial Room

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,