Urad Dal Vada | Medu vada |Ulundu Vadai

Crispy deep fried savory

  

Popularly known as Medu Vadai, Urad Dal Vada is a deep fried fritter made of black gram lentil offered as naivedyam, especially in the Kala Bhairava and Hanuman temples.

 

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Introduction

About this Recipe

Popularly known as Medu Vadai, Urad Dal Vada is a deep fried fritter made of black gram lentils. “Medu” is the Tamil word for “soft”; “medu vada” therefore means “soft fritter”. It is usually made in a doughnut shape (hence, also referred to as the Indian doughnut!), with a crispy exterior and soft interior. It is a popular food item in Tamil cuisine as also the ubiquitous Udupi restaurants that dot the entire length and breadth of the country. It is generally eaten as a breakfast or a snack. 

Other names for the dish include uddina vade (Kannada), urad vada, medhu vadai, ulundu vadai (Tamil), garelu (Telugu), batuk (Nepali), and uzhunnu vada (Malayalam). It is generally eaten as a combination with steamed dumplings called idlis and is also a popular breakfast item served in weddings, and offered as naivedyam, especially in the Kala Bhairava and Hanuman temple of Tamil Nadu. 

They are preferably eaten freshly fried, while still hot and crunchy. They are served with a variety of dips including sambar, watery or dry chutneys.

  • Preparation time: 2 hrs. 15 mts. (soaking time 2 hours approximately)

  • Cooking time: 15 minutes

  • Total time: 2 hrs. 30 minutes minutes

  • Servings: 6-8 servings

  • Course: Breakfast

  • Cuisine : Mainly Tamilian cuisine 

Ingredients

  • Urad dal/ Black gram 750 gms
  • Salt 26.25 gms
  • Coriander leaves 17.5 gms
  • Red chilli 2.5 gms
  • De-Skinned Ginger 17.5 gms
  • Hing (Asafoetida) 2.18 gms
  • Butter 105 gms
  • Sesame Oil 875 gms

Note

Bhaga shastra gives ingredient measurements in measurement systems used in ancient times. Hence please use the conversion guidelines below to convert it into modern measurement systems. When giving this recipe, we are not rounding any measurements in the modern units, so as to avoid any deviations from the Bhaga Shastra. 

Bhaga Shastra Units Conversion

1 Padi – 1500 gms or 1.5 kgs approx.

1 Palam – 35 gms approx.

1 R.e (Rupee Equivalent) – 4.8 gms approx.

Cooking Method

  1. Wash black gram and Soak it in water for 2 hours. 
  2. After soaking for 2 hours, drain the water and add salt. 
  3. Grind the ingredients into a smooth paste. 
  4. The batter should be of thick consistency like butter, to be able to mould into lemon size balls or pat into a disk shape on a leaf  like butter. Keep aside.
  5. Grate the ginger, remove the stalk off of the red chillies and clean the coriander leaves by removing the roots. 
  6. Add all these items with hing/asafoetida  and grind it into a paste, adding little water. 
  7. Squeeze the paste and add the extraction in the black gram batter. 
  8. Next add butter and mix the batter well. 
  9. Heat oil in a frying pan. 
  10. Take a banana leaf and apply little water on it. Take a lemon sized ball of the batter and flatten it on the leaf. Make a hole in the centre and drop it into the hot oil slowly. 
  11. Add 7-8 such flattened vada into the oil. Turn the vadas, when one side of it becomes slightly golden colour. 
  12. Once the vadas are fried well, remove it from the oil and place it on a rack or kitchen towel to drain off excess oil.
  13. Repeat the process for the rest of the batter. 
  14. Naivedyam is ready. Offer it to Swamiji and receive his blessings!

Urad dal vada can be fried in ghee or oil. This is best served with coconut chutney.

Step by step instructions

1

 

Wash black gram/dal and soak it in water for 2 hours. 

 

2

After soaking for 2 hours, drain the water and add salt.

3

Grind the dal into a smooth paste till it feels like butter and keep it aside. 

4

Grate the ginger, remove the stalks from the red chillies and clean the coriander leaves by removing the roots. 

5

Add all these items with the hing and make these into a paste by adding little water.

6

Squeeze the paste and add the extracted juice in the black gram batter.

7

Next add butter and knead well.

8

Heat oil in a frying pan.

9

Take a banana leaf and apply water on it. 

10

Take a lemon sized batter and flatten it on the leaf. Make a hole in the centre and put it in hot oil in the frying oil slowly.

11

Put 3-4 vadas in this manner, into the oil. When one side of the vadas become slightly golden in color flip/turn the vadas. 

12

Once the vadas are fried well, remove them from the oil. Repeat the process for the whole batter. And now the prasada is ready.