Medu Vada(i) with variations(for Bhagavathi Sevai Pooja)

Medu Vada(i) with variations

INTRODUCTION

Medu Vadai (or Ulundu Vadai) is the traditional neivedhyam to be prepared for Bhagavathi Sevai at home along with Nei Payasam. When you make this for regular occasions, use green chillies to add heat, if it’s a poojai substitute with crushed black pepper. Other variations also include chopped spinach (Keerai vadai) or chopped onions & ginger (Vengaya Masal Vadai).

For now,  here goes the recipe..

Ingredients :

1. Ulundu - Urad dal - Split black lentils (white inside) - 2 glasses/cup (approx 250gms) soaked atleast for an hour or two (VahChef says 6 hours & for quick reference of his video  - here’s a link )
2. Jeera - 1 tsp
3. 10-12 crushed black pepper corns (OR 3-4 green chillies)
4. Few curry leaves (10-12) - finely chopped
5. Oil for deep frying
6. ½ tsp of hing (asafoetida) powder & salt to taste

Method of preparation :

Soak the ulundu for a few hours, drain & process in the blender (food processor) or mixer grinder container, using minimum water. First let it grind coarse and dry & then add a little water to ensure you don’t have a runny mixture. Transfer to a bowl, add salt, curry leaves chopped, crushed black pepper, hing, jeera and mix well. Once all the spices are mixed, it’s important to aerate the mixture to get fluffy vadai. For this, keep mixing the dough, very similar to a cake mixture where you incorporate air. This requires some time & after this process, the dough should look whiter and lighter than before. Heat oil in a kadhai, once it reaches smoking point, reduce the flame. Now the vadais are ready to be fried. Scoop out a small ball of dough onto your palm, press it slightly in the centre with your thumb (don’t make a hole all the way, it will flatten the shape totally), drop it gently into the oil. Fry each side for a min or more, till golden brown & turn sides. To keep fresh, crisp, leave a tray of vadais inside a pre-heated oven (at min temperature, pre-heat for 6 mins switch off).

Serve fresh with coconut chutney or sambar or both!

Tips

• If you want to fry the vadais later keep the dough inside the fridge, but not more than a day
• Effective hack for a runny mixture - Add a little bit of sooji/rava to adjust the texture.
• For dahi vadas : while about to fry, don’t press to make a hole, drop off shaped as a dollop, round or oblong as you wish. Once fried, immerse in hot water for a 10 mins, remove, squeeze off excess water, keep aside inside a box -> store in the fridge till serving time
• For masala variations : add finely chopped carrots, peas, cabbage shredded or spinach shredded along with fresh coriander & green chillies. Shape as you wish, either like a dough-nut or like a tiny round vada without a hole