Uzhunnu Vada

Uzhunnu Vada / Urad Vada / Medu vada / Lentil Fritter  

                                                                      

Helllllo 😊!!! Hope you guys tried my Mutton Biriyani recipe… How was it?  Please do share your feedback. These feed backs are so very encouraging and inspiring, it motivates me to  try and share yummy recipes 😊😊. Today  I am here with an extremely popular tea time snack 👌. It is loved by all 😍, Yes!!! It is Uzhunnu vada or Medu Vada. Back home in Kerala a good amount of space is occupied by these vadas in all tea shops 😉😉.   This is usually served as a tea time 🍵 snack but you also serve this during breakfast as a combo along with dosa (rice pancake) or pongal (rice / lentil dish). Uzhunnu vada is made with urad dal (a type of lentil) and it resembles a doughnut 🍩 in appearance. They have a crispy exterior and soft interior 😋.  The lentils are soaked in water for a minimum of 2 hours. Then they are ground to a coarse paste. I used mixer grinder for grinding ,extreme care should be taken while grinding. Add water just enough to make it to a coarse paste. It shouldn’t be very coarse 😉.  Then they are beaten well to incorporate air in to it, this is very important as this gives a soft and fluffy vada.  Later on spices like pepper (I used pepper powder), green chilies, ginger, curry leaves and shallots (I used onion) are added 👌👌 . Then it is shaped like doughnuts and it is dropped in to hot piping oil and it is fried. Tasty vadas are ready in minutes 😋😋. It is a perfect tea time snack especially during this chilly weather 😃. Okay then let’s get started….

                                                                           

Preparation time: 2 hours and 10 min

Cooking time:  15-20 min

Serves: 4 – 5

Ingredients

Urad dal / Uzhunnu: 1 cup

Water: ¼ cup or just enough to grind to a coarse paste

Onion : ½ of 1 (chopped)

Ginger: 1 inch (chopped)

Green chili: 2-3 (chopped)

Crushed pepper / pepper powder: 1 tsp

Curry leaves: 1 spring

Salt: as needed

Oil: as needed

Ziploc/ Aluminium foil : 1 / a small sheet

A bowl of water

Method

1.       Soak dal in enough water for a minimum of two hours.  Drain water from the dal and grind to a slightly coarse paste by adding water little by little.  The batter should be fairly thick.

                                                                                 

2.       Beat it well with a spoon or with your fingers for couple of minutes.

                                                                             

3.       Add chopped ginger, green chilies, curry leaves, pepper powder and salt.

                                                                                  

4.       Dip your fingers in water and take a small portion of batter and place it over the Ziploc or foil.

                                                                           

           

5.       Shape the edges and with your finger make a small hole in the center.

                                                                                  

6.       Gently lift the batter from the Ziploc and drop it in the hot oil.

                                                                      

7.       Or you can follow another method after dipping your fingers in water take a small portion of batter and shape it as shown and drop it oil.

                                                                              

                                                                                      

8.       Once it turns golden brown flip it over.

                                                                                  

9.       Fry till both sides turn golden brown.

                                                                                

10.   Drain the excess oil using a tissue paper. Crispy uzhunnu vadas are ready.

                                                                                          

11.   Serve hot with chutney or Sambar  .

                                                                              

12.   Enjoy.

                                                                                    

Notes

1.       Adjust the quantity of pepper and green chili according to your taste.

2.       Use minimum water while grinding you can replace water with ice cubes. If so use 1- 2 ice cubes.

3.       The batter should be thick enough then only shaping will be easy. If it turns hard to shape add 1-2 tbsp of rice flour or refrigerate the batter for 30-45 minutes.

4.       The batter should not be watery.  Add water accordingly. 

  

5.       You can replace onion with shallots.