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–+ servings

Medhu Vada/Ulundu/Uddina Vadai/Urad Dal Vada

Aanchal Gupta
This is a fool proof recipe for beginners who struggle to make traditional style medhu vadai with a hole in the middle.I have included tips and tricks to make perfect donut shaped Medhu Vadas without any special gadgets or skills.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 24 vadas

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Urad Dal rinsed and soaked overnight
  • 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns roughly pounded
  • 1 tbsp green chili chopped fine
  • 8-10 curry leaves torn
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped onions optional
  • Oil for frying

For shaping Vadas

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tsp salt

Instructions
 

  • Rinse the Urad dal well till water runs clear and soak overnight or at least 6-7 hours
  • Next morning drain the water and grind the dal smooth with very little water(I used my Vitamix blender)
  • Do float test-take a cup of water and drop a spoonful of batter, if it floats, its ready
  • Additionally, use a cake mixer to incorporate more air into the batter for soft vadas
  • Add ginger,green chilies,pounded peppercorns, curry leaves and chopped onions to the ground dal
  • Heat oil on medium high
  • Mix the salt into the 1/4 cup water till salt dissolves,this is the water we will use to shape vadas
  • Dab some water on your palm and use wet fingers to place a small amount of batter on your palm
  • Wet your fingers again and dab on the batter to flatten it a bit
  • Use your index finger to make a hole in the batter
  • Again wet your fingers in the salt water, dab vada and release from hand and gently place in hot oil
  • Make vadas from remaining batter and fry them till golden and crisp on both sides
  • Remove excess oil by placing on a paper towel and enjoy with coconut chutney and sambar

Notes

This is a fool proof recipe for beginners who struggle to make traditional style medhu vadai with a hole in the middle. Its important to not add any salt to the dal batter. Salt makes the batter very loose making it hard for the batter to hold its shape. The concentrated salt water that we use for dabbing and picking up the batter and shaping provides the right amount of salt to the vadai. If you are going to make dahi vadas then salt can be added to the water thats used for soaking the vadas. Adding onions is completely optional. I have made it many times without onions. Adding 1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds can further enhance the taste.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!