Medhu Vada

Medhu vada or Ulundhu vadai is a mouth watering treat. Both the young and old cannot help but love it.

When it is hot and fresh, the vadai simply calls everyone to the kitchen with it’s aroma. Some coconut chutney and spicy sambhar takes it to the next level of yummmm!

The emotion behind Medhu Vada!

If a person offers to make vadai-kesari for you, I can assure you that you are a favoured one! You must understand that this combination is made for special guests and on happy occasions. A breakfast or “tiffin” time with these golden brown savoury dish is very fulfilling indeed!

There are some who prefer the masala vadai. That is slightly more chewy, but again, a delcious snack for the evening.

This one however, is crisp outsode, soft and white inside. It should ideally not be oily. And bit of onions, chillies, curry leaves and flavours of ginger are what make it irresistible.

Though I am a health conscious person, I occasionally give in to the temptation to make this medhu vadai. It always flies off the pate as I fry them!

The recipe is straight forward. However, I have included some points to keep in mind while making the vadai in this video that you might like to check out.

These tips in the video are worth remembering as you follow this recipe.

Refer notes (after the recipe below) on trouble shooting if you make the batter too watery.

While frying, check that the vadai takes a few seconds to change colour. In two minutes, it should be golden brown and ready to turn over. Any less hot and the vadai will drink up too much oil. And if the oil is smoking hot, the vadai will not be cooked inside.

All the best!

My mother always made dahi vada for me as I preferred the vadai dunked in fresh curds to the plain ones with sambhar or chutney.

In the northern parts of India, dahi bhalla is taken to the next level. With amazing chutneys, sprinkles of various crisp sev, juliennes of ginger, chilly, carrots etc. Not to mention the coriander and if you are lucky, small chunks of raw mango 🤩⁠

You can use these recipes for the green chutney and this sweet sour date and tamarind chutney.
⁠

Keeping all these together makes converting the medhu vadai into a North Indian Dahi bhalla experience is so easy!

Medhu Vada

Recipe by Sheetal RabindranCourse: SnacksCuisine: South IndianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

2

hours 

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 cups of urad (black gram) whole without skin

• 1 tbsp ginger and green chilly paste

• 2 onions, chopped

• 3 tbsp coriander leaves chopped

• 2 tbsp curry leaves chopped

• 1/2 to 1 tsp salt (according to taste)

Directions

• Wash and soak the urad daal in minimum water for two hours only.
• Add the ginger-chilly paste and grind in food processor or the wet grinder till it doubles in volume. Do not add water.
• Scrape the sides occasionally to continue grinding. If you feel it requires water, add ice cubes, one at a time. Do not add more than 6 for this quantity, over a period of the grinding process.
• Set the oil on the fire for deep frying.
• Add the onions and the leaves. In case you had not added the ginger chilly paste while grinding, you can add it now.
• Finally add salt.
• Make the vadais as shown in the video.
• While frying, check that the vadai takes a few seconds to change colour. In two minutes, it should be golden brown and ready to turn over. Any less hot and the vadai will drink up too much oil. And if the oil is smoking hot, the vadai will not be cooked inside.
• Serve with sambhar or chutney or both! It goes well with idlies and with kesari.

Notes

• Grinding in the wet grinder is better than your food processor. It increases the volume to double very easily ( around 40 minutes)
• If you are using the mixie/ food processor, ensure you use just 1-2 ice cubes per cup of soaked lentil. And be patient untill the batter changes colour from pale and creamy to white. You may have to take it out of the jar into a large dish and whisk it.
• If the batter becomes too watery, add a tablespoon of dry rice flour, mix and use it to fry the vadai.
• For using in dahi vadas/ dahi bhalla/ dahi baray, make small round vadas. Soak in water for a short while.
• Now squeeze out water and add to fresh, beaten curds. Top with different chutneys, sprinkle with coriander, raw mango, grated carrots, julienned ginger etc.