Jun 5, 2009

Ulundha vadai / Medhu vadai / Urad dal vada

This vada forms an authentic combo along with ven pongal in South Indian breakfasts. It is made on almost all special occasions and festivals. It is made with few simple ingredients. It makes a great appetizer just by itself with coconut chutney  or dunk these beauties in sambar, rasam or curd which tastes divine. The difficult process is shaping the vadai with a hole in the middle. Though I have not mastered the technique, just wanted to share the recipe. You can call these Indian Dounuts!

Ingredients

Black gram / Uluttham paruppu / Urad dal- 2 cups
Onion - 1 small sized
Green chillies - 3 
Black pepper - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seed - 1 teaspoon 
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Coriander leaves – 1 spoon chopped
Salt to taste 
Oil for deep-frying

Directions

Wash and soak the dal for an hour. Chop the onions and green chillies. Grind the together along with the urad dal in a blender to a smooth paste. Try to blend without adding water. If necessary add 1 or 2 teaspoons of water.

Stir in the chopped coriander leaves, curry leaves, crushed black pepper and cumin seeds. Add salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients together to form a smooth, thick batter.

In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat oil for frying. Wet your palms with a little water or with a little oil so that the batter doesnt stick to your hand. Instead, you can use a ziplock bag to shape the batter.

Take a spoonful of batter in between your palms, flatten them into a round with a hole in the middle. Carefully drop them into the hot oil and deep fry them in batches of 5 or 6. It needs to get cooked for about a minute or two on each side. Carefully flip them over with a slotted spoon. 

Once they turn golden brown, remove them with the slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.

Serve hot with coconut chutney. You can use the leftovers if any, to make sambar vadai or rasa vadai or dahi vada.

Sending this to "My Legume Love Affair-12th helping" hosted by Annarasa and started by Susan and to Sunday Snacks:Spill the Beans hosted at Akshayapaatram.

52 comments:

  1. Wow thats so tempting and looking perfect....

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  2. Medu vadas looks perfect divya!!! delicious!!!

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  3. I want to have them, looks crispy outside and soft inside, delicous.

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  4. oh Divya....!!I am so lazy to prepare these golden beauties(I am scared of deep frying in oil)...Looks beautiful n yummy..Pass me that plate so that i can dunk them in Sambar n enjoy..

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  5. Awesome... looks so so crispy, fluffy and delicious!

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  6. Delicious vadai Divya ... looks so perfect and crispy :)

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  7. Divya, Vada looks sooo crispy and good.. :) great job...

    I love hot hot vadas...

    A small useful tip..If u keep the urad dal in fridge for 1 hr (soaked with just enough water) and then go ahead with grinding, it will fluffy up great. You can do the same for Idly/Dosa batters, for vada too..

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  8. Hi Divya my first visit here..Liked blog and black and white layout..Vada looks so crispy,my all time fav...

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  9. Yummy vadas....Tastes great with coconut chutney and sambar..

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  10. Oh! This is such a treat on rainy days!

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  11. Oh! This is such a treat on rainy days!

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  12. Nice Clicks Divya...Soaking the dal for 1 hr!!!will dis be sufficient??I generally do it for 3-4 hrs...

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  13. the vada looks super crispy.. sapdnum pola iruku.

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  14. LOL, look like you couldn't resist taking a little bite of those delicious vadai before photographing it :)

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  15. wow..looks yumm..i was craving for vada yesterday..

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  16. OMG! That looks perfect! Vadas are my fav...

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  17. It's been raining the past few days and this would be the perfect tea time snack-can I have some ;)

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  18. I love medhu vadai ! they look nice and fluffy !

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  19. Hi Dhivya, thanks for stopping by my blog :) Nice crispy vadas...lovely clicks.

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  20. I am all for savory donuts!
    Your photos are very cool!

    Please stop by Taste With The Eyes late Sunday for the MLLA round-up, and thank you so very much for participating. Glad to get to know your blog and that you are my neighbor is a bonus!
    Lori Lynn

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  21. Looks so tempting Divya! Pretty clicks :)

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  22. small donuts are even better, for having one on the way....

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  23. vada looks very tempting Divya..vada with sambar,mmmmmmmmmmm!

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  24. wooooooooooow looks so soft and perfect love to have any time. so beautiful pic divya ummmm what to say mouthwatering

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  25. Vadas are my favourite. Perfect and delicious.

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  26. Looks real tempting, very nice pictures.

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  27. WoW Divya..Vada Look's Great! First and Second Pic's are equally Good!

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  28. Crisp Vada,we love them,I usually have them for weekend brunch:)

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  29. Wow! that looks fluffy & soft. I like to have with lotz of sambar & chutney.

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  30. Lovely vadas Divya! Looks crispy n fresh! My favourite!

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  31. divya, perfect golden brown colour. can i have some? :D

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  32. Perfect colour on your vadais divya and these are my absolute favorite.. Had so many fluffy ones last evening at a friend's place :)

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  33. Wow...they look great, so crisp n delicious. You've managed to shape them too, somehow I can never manage that.

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  34. Such a visual and tasteful treat. I have problem putting a whole in the center. Yours look pretty!

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  35. Look lovely. There's something special about these soft and crisp vadas.

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  36. Perfect medhu vadais. Lovely color.

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  37. they look so crisp and so perfect...

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  38. Divya.. Vada is looking perfect.... i love these vadas..im followin you from today onwards.. :) not just because of this vada kk..lol.. :)
    i loved most of your dishes and alwayz awesome presentation.. :)

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  39. Uzhundhu vada looks so perfect Div..perfect round shape with that even more perfect hole:).Mind blowing yaar:)

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  40. Medu vada looks great...You have a nice blog and various collection of recipes...I love your blog.

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  41. Yes Divya ,i took wilton course recently..its really good,u r gonna lov it..have fun

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  42. Lovely vadas Divya it sounds delicious.

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  43. Ph, yum looking vadas! Good luck with the move, Divya! Hope everything goes smoothly :)

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  44. Vadai looks perfect! Yummy snack.... love it :)

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  45. Ahh... My ultimate weakness! I simply adore medhu vadai, Divya. Yours simply rock! :)

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  46. Its a belief at my inlaws place that making urad dal vadas is a difficult task,mainly to get the right shapes.Yours hv turned out so well...lovely one Divya!

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  47. Hi Divya,

    Back after a break. Loved the click og the vada. Lovely post too. I see you have a lovely SLR...just wanted to know if you naturally shot with the black background or was it a post production alteration? Do let me know.

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Hi..
Thanks for dropping by my blog and rendering your valuable comments..Hope you had a nice time reading my recipes..Thanks for your encouragement..