Friday 21 May 2010

Uzhundha vadai / medhu vadai / mina pappu garelu / urid dhal fritters


A very healthy and tasty snack,  especially for children. I love the smell, outer crispiness and inner softness of this vadai. Quick and easy to prepare and it makes a wholesome snack too. Any tamilian will go ga-ga for this vada preparation :). Usually this vada is served along with venpongal or idly in hotels and it goes very well with sambhar and coconut chutney. In south India it is a must during festival feasts.
 

 


Ingredients:

Urid dhal - 1 1/2 cup
Onion- 1 no
Green chillies- 4 nos
Ginger- 1/2 inch piece
Curry leaves- some 10 leaflets, minced finely
Jeera- 1/2 tspn
Pepper corns- 10 nos (coarsely grounded)
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste

Method : 

Soak urid dhal in water for 40 minutes. Cut onions, green chillies and ginger into small pieces. Mince curry leaves and coarsely ground pepper corns. Grind the soaked urid dhal in a food processor to a smooth paste. Add enough salt when grinding. The batter should be thick and not watery. Now mix onions, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, jeera and pepper to the ground batter. Mix well. Take a small lime-sized ball of batter and make it flat. Make a hole in the center of the flattened batter with your finger. Now drop it in hot oil. Fry all the batter in the same way. Crispy, soft medhu vada or uzhundha vada is ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : You can add two teaspoon of tuvar dhal when soaking the uri ddhal and grind together. I read in a magazine that it increases the crispiness of vada. You can grind the batter coarsely too. That gives a different, more crispy taste. Do not soak the dhal for more than one hour. Do not make the batter watery. The batter should be thick enough so that the vada imbibes less oil.  But when the batter is too thick the vada becomes hard and rubbery. So find a balance in the consistency of the batter. You can shape the vada with your hand. But before doing this dip your hand in water so that the batter doesn't stick to your hand. Otherwise you can use polythene sheets which are coated with oil for shaping the vadas. You can add carrot scrapping, coconut pieces, any minced healthy greens to the batter for that extra touch. Serve with coconut chutney. Happy cooking !!!

29 comments:

  1. LOVE them! I ma planning to make some this weekend with Rasam. Looks so good, enjoy.

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  2. uzhunnu vadai my favourite i like all vadas uzhunnuvadai is one of them.with a cup of tea wow feel to have it now..very nicely done yarr..perfect uzhunnuvadai..the best part about this kind of snacks are not necessary to keep it for long because within minutes it will get finish by everyones ..very well presented..Have a nice Weekend

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  3. Vadai looks perfect and crispy :-)

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  4. Vada looks soo tempting and perfect.. pass me a plate dear.. nice clicks too.. :)

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  5. healthy and delicious looking fritters...one of my fav...thanks for sharing this Manju! Have a nice weekend...tk care!

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  6. Manju, vadai superb di...send us a parcel....u have got the shape so nicely....my ulundhu vadas are generally in different shapes :) good job...

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  7. Vada makes me drool...crispy vada looks prefect Manju..

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  8. Manju,

    UZhunu Vada looks really nice, Amma's favorite, she makes all the time.

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  9. I love uzhunnu vadai. I tried to prepare it once but it was a flop :( I guess I didnt have the right batter consistency. Yours look perfect and delicious!

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  10. Turns out delicious and perfect, this is my favorite too....

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  11. Ulunthu vadai looks very crispy and perfectly shaped. Now you are reminding me to soak the urid dhal for snack:) The tips seems very useful, I will try adding the toor dhal too.

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  12. So yummy vadas..comeout so perfect.

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  13. thatz a crispy vada..nice pictures too.

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  14. Vadai looks fluffy and crispy....Nice to have for this weather...

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  15. I used to add rice flour earlier to bajjis. The taste differs, this one tastes simply superb. This is already very crisp and tasty so there wouldn't be any need for extra rice flour. :) Anyways, thanks for ur suggestions :)

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  16. Love the looks of it, they look so crispy and appetizing, again a family favorite in my family too :)

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  17. I can even the sense the smell of vada by looking at it. I din't know tuvar dhal adds crispiness,that's a good tip,i'll try for next time.

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  18. can smell it...love it..@ my home it finishes off right while frying...haha..perfectly done..mouthwatering

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  19. wow looks too good, so crispy and perfect looking vada...

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  20. Dear Manju
    Why only Tamilian ? I am yet to see an Indian from any part of the country who doesn't go ga ga over Vada :-)
    Very nice recipe , I am not aware of Tuvar dall adding crispiness, will try.
    I learnt from blog here to add little rice flour to make the surface crispy and it works!
    Have a nice weekend

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  21. Hi Manju,
    We have an award waiting for you at our space. Please do stop by to collect it. Have a happy weekend!

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  22. Manju,,ulundu vadai nalla seithurukeenga paa enakkum deep fry pannum poedhu oru nalla vasanai varume ohhh super vaasanai nalla crispy medhuva irukkum,,idli,sambar,chutney 2 ulundu vadai nalla tiffin combo illa da maa.

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  23. Hi Manju
    Vada looks so tempting nd inviting! thanks for sharing..BTW first time here..lovely space with great dishes..following you

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  24. looka fluffy n crispy ..my all time fav

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  25. vadai methuvaa irukka illaiyaa?nu naangathaan taste panni sollanum akka, neengala 'Methuvadai'nu declare panninda athu sellathu! sellathu!...:)

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  26. Crispy vadai looks nice and tempting Manju.

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  27. Lovely medhu vadas, perfectly shaped...crisp and nice.

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  28. Thank you friends :)

    Ada eliku vada pidikumla....eli pori vaikaren :)

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  29. //Ada eliku vada pidikumla....eli pori vaikaren :)//
    hello akka, intha jerry avloo easya vadai yellam sapdathu. Test pannittuthaan sapdum..:)

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