medu vada

Medu Vada

Written by on in Medu Vada

Origin of Medu Vada

The word Medu in the medu vada, literally means soft in kannada language. Basically this word is attached to this dish, to describe softness yet the crispiness it has. Perhaps the Udupi restaurants famous all over India had a great contribution in popularising and giving this adjective to vada recipe. However it is also referred with several other names in South India like, urad dal vada, medhu vadai, ulundu vadai in tamil, garelu in telugu and uzhunnu vada in Malayalam. Further, it is served mainly with coconut chutney or peanut chutney, but these days it is served by dipping in sambar and rasam too.

Breakfast Delicacy..

Most south Indians consider their breakfast incomplete without Medu vada. Whether they have Idli, Dosa, Pongal or upma, they like to add a crispy tasty and protein rich urad dal vada to the platter.
My husband is a big fan of home cooked medu vada and has countless of them. We personally enjoy having the vada dipped in hot piping rasam.

Enjoy how to make Medu vada.

Medu Vada

Print Recipe
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine Indian

Ingredients
  

Ingredients used in Medu Vada

  • 200 gms Urad dal
  • half tsp Cumin seed
  • 1 tsp Pepper powder
  • 0.25 tsp Hing
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • Oil - to fry
  • 1 spring Curry leaves (chopped)

Instructions
 

Preparing the Vada Batter:

  • Soak 200 gms of urad dal for 6 hours or overnight.
  • Later drain the water.
  • Add the soaked urad dal in a grinder jar.
  • Add 2 to 3 tablespoon water or as required.
  • Make sure not to make the batter very thin.
  • Make sure not to make the batter very thin.
  • You can grind in parts and add water as required.
  • Grind the urad dal to a smooth batter.
  • The batter should be fluffy , coarse, thick and not liquid.
  • In a bowl add blended urad dal, hing, pepper, curry leaves, cumin seeds, salt as per taste mix all these ingredients and beat it well with hands.
  • A quick tip is to take a small ball of batter and drop it to a bowl of water.
  • The batter should float. If it does not float beat the batter again with hands to make it more airy and fluffy.

Frying the Vadas:

  • Take a Frying pan add oil to it, let it heat. Keep the flame to medium.
  • Take a bowl of water. Apply some water from the bowl on both your hands.
  • Take some batter in your right hand from the bowl. Give it a round shape. With your thumb make a hole in the center.
  • Slid the medu vada into hot oil.
  • Once the medu vada are slightly golden then gently turn over with a slotted spoon and continue to fry.
  • Fry the medu vada till crisp and golden.
  • The oil should not be very hot, but medium hot. Once the vadai is crisp and golden remove with a spoon draining the extra oil.
  • Fry the rest of the vadas in the same manner.
  • Drain medu vada on kitchen tissues to remove excess oil.
  • Serve hot medu vada with sambar and coconut chutney.