Medhu Vadai

My 43rd recipe "Medhu Vadai", an Indian version of doughnut, but a savory one. Crispy on the outside and perfectly soft and pillowy in the inside. It is so delicious that it finds it place in all South India festival feasts. Though it appears like a snack of appetizer, it would be perfect to devour it for breakfast along with Idli or Pongal. Though this recipe looks simple, it is always daunting for me to make the perfect shaped vadas 😀

Happy Maatu Pongal !!! Today is the second day of the Tamil Pongal Festival. This day of the festival is for paying respect to the gentle animal cattle.

In olden days when there was no machinery, cattle was very essential to a farmer to help with crucial farming activities like ploughing, etc. So it is no wonder that cattle is being honored on the second day of this Harvest festival. In Tamil Nadu, on this day, cattle would be decorated and showered with goodies 🙂

Also, the maatu pongal celebrations would not be complete without a evening of Jallikattu. It is a Tamil version of the popular bull taming sport which has a 1000 years old history. Visit yesterday's post for details on Thai Pongal celebrations.

Medhu Vadai

Medhu Vadai (Savory Donuts)

Revathi Palani

Medhu Vadai is a perfect anytime snack, crispy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. It is made from urad dal and seasoned with Indian spices.

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Prep Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine Indian

Servings 20

Ingredients

  

• 1 Cup Urad dal (Skinless)
• 1 Tbsp Raw rice
• 1 large Onion (Finely chopped)
• 3 small Green chilli (Finely chopped)
• 1 sprig Curry leaves
• ½ tsp Asafoetida
• 1 tsp Salt (Adjust as needed)
• Oil - For frying

Instructions

 

• First wash the urad dal and rice and soak in water for a minimum of 2 hours. Then drain them from water and grind them into fluffy batter. Grinding is very important. Look at the Notes section for key points. Transfer the batter into a clean mixing bowl.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvgrind1.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvgrind2.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%"><br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvgrind3.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvgrind4.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">
  
• Now to the batter, add all remaining ingredients, and mix thoroughly with clean hands.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvbatter1.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvbatter2.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">
• Now heat a kadai with sufficient oil. Once the oil is hot, wet your hand and take a ball out of the batter. With the help of your thumb, put a hole at the center of the ball. Slide the vadai into the hot oil by just inverting your hands above the oil. Refer to my video on "How to shape vadai".
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvshape1.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvshape2.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%"><br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvshape3.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvshape4.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">
• Vadai will start to float after a few seconds. Fry in medium heat until both sides of the vadas are nicely golden brown, by flipping occasionally. Remove from oil and drain excess oil on a paper napkin.
  <br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvfry1.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvfry2.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%"><br><br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvfr3.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mvfry4.jpg" alt="vadai" width="48%">
  
• Enjoy hot as such or with any chutney.

  <br><img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/medhu-vadai-1.jpg" alt="medhu vadai" width="100%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/medhu-vadai-2.jpg" alt="medhu vadai" width="100%">&nbsp;<img src="//revi.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/medhu-vadai-3.jpg" alt="medhu vadai" width="100%">
  

Notes | FAQ

- Rice is added to give extra crispiness to the vadai. DO not add more rice, else the vadai will become hard.

- While grinding, add the drained urad dal and rice to the wet grinder. Then start the wet grinder. At regular intervals just sprinkle water. Add only minimal water quantity needed for grinding.

- The batter should be light and fluffy to get the perfect vadai. Do not grind for a long time.

- If the batter is watery, you will not be able to shape the vadai and also vadai will not become crispy and will tend to absorb more water.

- Vadai will be best if ground in wet grinder. Alternatively you can use dry grinder/ blender or mixie.

- If the batter has become watery by mistake, then try to keep it in fridge for 15 mins and then try. If still watery, add a very minimum quantity of rice flour. But adding rice flour will result in a hard vadai.

- While frying the vadai, the vadai should float and do not stick to the bottom of the kadai. So add sufficient oil for frying.

- If the vadai sticks to the bottom then the temperature of the oil may not be hot enough or the oil quantity may be less. So adjust accordingly.

- Above everything else, quality of urad dal matters a lot. Always use best quality and you will get the best vadai.

- Refrigerate the batter and use it for the next day.

Submitted this recipe to the event Come, join us for Breakfast, hosted by Cooking4AllSeasons.