Uzhunnu Vada/Medhu Vadai/Deep Fried Urad Dal Dumplings

Uzhunnu Vada is something that has been in my to-make list for a long time mainly because my mom and her sister are experts at this and no matter where I have it, I always crave for the home-made version. Also, this is a favourite of TH's. For that matter, anything that's deep fried is more his thing.



But what really prompted me to try it immediately was Suganya's post and her yummy pictures. Due to these lines in her blog ".. it takes a little practice to shape it properly. The key is to add very little water while grinding. Don’t lose heart if you can’t get it right. Just drop by spoonfuls into the hot oil.." I was not disheartened when my dough became a tad too watery and I have to just make blobs of vada. Like she said, noone complained, cuz after all, it was deep fried :D

I made very slight changes in the ingredients according to personal taste.

Uzhunnu Vada/Medhu Vadai



What I Used:

Makes about 15 dumplings (approx 12 vada)

Skinned urad dal - 1/2 cup
Chopped green chillies - 3
Minced ginger - 1 tsp(I don't like biting into them while easting the vada)
Chopped curry leaves - 15
Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Soak urad dal in sufficient water for atleast an hour. Drain water completely and grind to a fine paste. This is where I went slightly wrong. I added a bit of water and couldn't shape the vadas cuz of that.

2. Mix in the other ingredients to make a thick batter.

3. Heat oil in a pan and shape the vadas like doughnuts. You can use your wet palms or a damp plastic bag side to do this without the batter sticking to it. I just dropped spoonfuls of the batter into the oil.

4. Fry till golden brown, adjusting the heat when the oil gets too hot. Make sure the heat is not too much cuz that will burn the outside while the inside is still undercooked.

5. Dump into a kitchen napkin to drain excess oil.

Best enjoyed with coconut chutney and sambhar. We had ours with carrot sambhar.

This is my entry to this month's MBP hosted by Nupur at One Hot Stove. The theme is 'More Is Less'. Going by her rules, this recipe only uses up 4 ingredients and like she wants, its such a wonderful medley of flavours.