Medhu vada (Uddin Vada)

Medhu Vada/ Uddin Vada is one of the south Indian traditional snack. It is protein rich & heavy snack served with main course such as Dosa, Idli & Pongal.This vada is shaped like a doughnut, with a hole in the middle. My mother used banana leaf/ beetle leaf/ polythin sheet to give proper shape, we can give the shape from single hand also. It is fun to prepare this vada while grinding & giving shape. In our child hood we used to put it on fingers & play with it as rings. It is offered to God as Prasad also in garland form.

Time:

Prep Time: 2 Hours soak time   

Cook time: 20 minutes    

Serving: 8 to 10 medium sized vada

Ingredients:

Urad Dal/ Black gram        - 2 Cups

Ginger                               - ½ inch

Green Chilly                      - 2 Chopped

Onion                                - 1 finely chopped - Medium sized (Optional)

Black pepper corns           - ¼ teaspoon (Crushed)

Coriander Leaves              - 2-3 stems (Chopped)

Curry leaves                      - 8-10 leaves (Chopped)               

Coconut pieces                 - 2 spoon

Asafetida                          - 2-3 pinch

Salt                                   - As per taste

Water                                - As needed

Oil                                     - For deep fry

Preparation Method:

1. Soak urad dal for 2 hours at least. (Use whole urad dal without skin (Black Gram) for better result).

2. Grind urad dal with only little water till fluffy. Please note the following points:
   a) Add urad dal little by little (no water), while the grinder is running.
   b) Sprinkle few drops of water now to avoid jamming of the grinder.
   c)Stand near till you finish grinding for sprinkling water now and then and wipe the urad dal that sticks to the wall of the grinder container.
   d) This whole process takes around 12-15 minutes, you will get a fluffy white batter.

1. Now add chopped onions ,ginger, green chillies, coriander crushed black pepper, coconut pieces and curry leaves to the batter along with salt and asafetida.(You can add ginger and green chillies while you are grinding the batter itself, If you don’t want pungent taste of ginger. If you decide so, first add ginger and chilles, then urad dal)
2. Now mix well, keep aside and heat enough oil in kadai (be generous or else vadas may stick to the bottom and get burnt).
3. Now wet your right hand well and make a small ball, use your thumb to make hole in the middle and drop it in oil,(just invert the vadas over the oil and slightly shake ur fingers)

4. Fry on medium flame, turn the vadas and fry till both the sides turn crisp and golden brown.

COOKING TIPS:

• If your vada drinks too much oil then it means you have added more water, reduce next time. Try adding any one of the following only one tsp to reduce vada drinking oil-Rice flour or gram flour or Maida/all purpose flour.
• Don’t grind for too long, it will make your batter sticky and you may not be able to give proper shape to the vadas. Keep in refrigerator and try after an hour.
• A good variety/quality of urad dal also matters.
• If you grind everything correctly, you will get a crispy vada, no need to add rice flour or anything.

Best Serving Method:

You can serve vada’s plain or with hot sambar /coconut/Tomato chutney.