Soaked urad dal whipped into an aerated batter and fried into golden, crisp-rimmed doughnuts, soft and savoury inside; the notebook's vada, served with coconut chutney and sambar.
Snack · 15 min prep · 25 min cook · serves 4 Newly added
Ingredients
- 1 cup urad dal , whole, skinless, soaked 4 hours
- 1 tbsp rice flour , optional, for a crisper crust
- 1 tbsp ginger (fresh) , grated
- 2 green chili , finely chopped
- 8 curry leaves , chopped
- ½ tsp black pepper , coarsely crushed
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- to taste rock salt
- 2 cups oil , for deep frying
Preparation
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Drain the urad dal thoroughly; grind to a thick batter, adding water a teaspoon at a time; the batter should be stiff enough to hold shape.
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Beat the batter with a spoon or whisk for 2–3 minutes until it turns pale, light and fluffy; a small ball should float in a bowl of water.
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Fold in the ginger, green chili, curry leaves, pepper, hing, salt and the optional rice flour.
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Wet your palm, shape a ball of batter, pierce a hole in the centre with your thumb, and slide it into medium-hot oil.
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Fry, turning once, until deep golden and crisp, 4–5 minutes; the oil should bubble steadily, not roar.
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Drain on paper and serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar, or soak in warm sambar rasam-style, as the household does.
In the tradition
“Medu” means soft in Kannada, and softness is the entire discipline of this vada: urad dal ground thick, beaten full of air, fried patient and golden. Rainy-day food across the south, vata-aggravating weather met with a warm, unctuous, grounding vada, which is exactly how the ayurvedic kitchen thinks.
Sources & further reading
- Family recipe notebook (sweets page, "Medu Vada: urad dal, rice flour, saunf, cardamom, salt, ghee for frying" (reading corrected; the dish is the classic savoury medu vada))
Classical citations mark where a tradition is drawn on; modern books are shared as further reading, not as prescriptions.