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Sambar Vadai

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Sambar Vada Recipe | Medhu Vada with Sambar
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Sambar Vadai, a scrumptious snack, its extremely appetizing, tastes so good... we cannot stop with taking one. Sambar Vadai is not so difficult recipe to make, but there are small tips and tricks that i am going to explain here will make your Sambar vadai very special.
The Sambar is a key part of this recipe and I have given here a perfect recipe for the Sambar which I believe being followed in the Chennai hotels.

Tips to making Restaurant Style Soft Sambar Vadai:

  • We need to soak urdal atleast for 4 hours. Soaking for 8 hours will make more fluffy vadas
  • Generally we are cautious that the vada should not consume more oil so we prepare the batter and prepare the vadas immediately. But for this sambar vada, we can keep the ground batter aside for ateast 10 minutes so that the vadas come fluffy and soft.
  • Aeration is very important to make the vada crisp and fluffy. The Aeration is natural if the dough is being prepared in a conventional way in the grinder. Grinder is also equally good. But if you are making the dough in Mixer, the make sure that you mix the dough well using your hands for about 2-3 minutes to get the aeration.
  • We need to make the size of the vada smaller than we do for usual vada as we are going to dip in diluted sambar-hot water mixture and because of which the vada tend to become big
  • Here i have used pumpkin as sambar vegetable. There are 2 reasons behind this
    • Pumpkin when cooked and mashed with thur dal increases the quantity of the sambar
    • Pumpkin gives a slight sweeter taste and great flavour for sambar
  • Jaggery that i have added in the last step of the sambar is optional. The jaggery sweetness will give a nice flavour to sambar. If you dont like the little sweetness you can avoid using the jaggery
  • In the Diluted Sambar, The water we add to the sambar should be strictly the hot water. If we add cold water then the sambar will become bad quickly
  • Unlike dhahi vada(Thayir Vadai), we cannot make the vadas before 1 day and keep it in refrigerator, we can prepare the vadas 2 hour before and soak it in sambar-hot water mixture and take them in a broad plate. While serving, we have heat the sambar and take the dipped vada in a bowl and top up with the hot sambar and garnish with coriander leaves/onion and serve hot
  • This way we can plan for a wonderful starter for our guests

You can also try:

  1. Medhu Vada
  2. Cabbage Vada
  3. Dahi (Curd) Vada
  4. Rasa Vada
  5. Masal Vada
  6. Tirupati Milagu (Pepper) Vada

Recipe Card for Sambar Vadai:

Sambar Vada Recipe | Medhu Vada with Sambar
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Sambar Vada Recipe | Medhu Vada in Sambar

Course: Appetizer, Evening Tiffen, Snacks
Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Brahmin, Tamil Nadu
Equipments Needed
  • Pressure Cooker
  • Mixer Grinder
  • Heavy Bottomed Pan
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Soaking Time: 4 hours
Total Time: 6 hours
Servings: 30 Vada
Calories: 151kcal
Author: Sowmya Venkatachalam
Sambar Vadai is one of the most popular evening snack in any restaurants. Sambar Vadai and Rasa Vadai is even served as an appetizer. Crispy but fluffy deep fried Medhu Vada are soaked in Sambar and garnished with ghee, chopped onions and coriander leaves.
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Ingredients

Ingredients for Vada

  • 1 Cup Urad Dal
  • 2 teaspoon Raw Rice
  • 4 Green Chili
  • 2 inch Ginger
  • 1 teaspoon Salt Adjust As Needed
  • 1 Cup Onion Finely Chopped
  • ¼ Cup Coriander Leaves
  • Few Curry leaves
  • 3 Cups Oil For Deep Frying Vada

For Sambar

  • 2 Cups Yellow Pumpkin Chopped
  • ⅓ Cup Toor Dal (Pigeon pea)
  • ¼ Cup Moong dal
  • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • 1 Lemon Size Tamarind
  • 1 Cup Shallots / Baby Onions
  • 2 teaspoon Salt Adjust As Needed
  • 2 tablespoon Coriander Leaves For Garnishing

For Grinding

  • 2 tablespoon Coriander seeds
  • 2 tablespoon Split Bengal Gram (Channa Dal / Kadalaparuppu)
  • ½ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
  • 8 Red Chili
  • 5-6 Shallots / Baby Onions
  • 1 Tomato Chopped

For Tempering

  • 2 tablespoon Oil
  • 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
  • 2 Red Chili
  • Few Curry leaves

For Garnishing Sambar Vada

  • 2 teaspoon Ghee
  • 2 tablespoon Coriander Leaves Finely Chopped
  • 2 tablespoon Onion Finely Chopped

Instructions 

Soaking Process for Vada

  • Wash and soak the Urad Dal and rice together for about 4 hours.

Steps for Making Sambar

    Cooking Dal and Pumpkin

    • Take the chopped pumpkin in a vessel. Add moong dal and toor dal to the pumpkin.
    • Add turmeric powder and water and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

    Soaking Tamarind

    • Soak Tamarind in warm water for about 10 mins and extract the juice. Keep this aside

    Preparing Grinding Ingredients

    • Heat oil in a pan. Add coriander seeds, bengal gram, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chili and fry till the dal turns light brown
    • Next, add the shallots, tomato and saute for a minute and then switch off the flame. Allow these ingredients to cool off

    Grinding Sambar Masala

    • Take all the fried ingredients to the mixer jar and grind it to paste by adding water

    Tempering Process

    • Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then add broken red chili and curry leaves. Give a mix.
    • Then add the shallots and saute till translucent.
    • Next, add the tamarind extract along with salt and allow the tamarind juice to boil for about 5 mins to get rid off the raw smell of the tamarind juice
    • Then, add the ground spice paste and give a good stir. Allow the sambar to boil in low flame for about 5 mins
    • Finally add the cooked dal and pumpkin to the sambar and adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding water. Adjust salt as needed.
    • Allow the sambar to boil for a minute and then swtich off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Now the Sambar for soaking Medhu Vada is ready!!!

    Making Vada

      Grinding Vada Batter

      • After 4 hours, drain water from the soaked urad dal. Add the urad dal into the mixer jar or wet grinder. Also add green chili and ginger to the wet grinder.
      • Sprinkle water and grind the urad dal. Keep sprinkling water little by little till we get a smooth and fluffy batter. If we grind the urad dal in wet grinder, it automatically incorporates aeration in the batter makes it fluffy. But if we grind it in mixer jar the aeration process doesn't happens and hence once the batter is ready, we need to beat the batter for atleast 5 mins to incorporate aeration and make the batter fluffy.

      Finishing Batter

      • Take the batter in a mixing bowl. Add salt, curry leaves, chopped onions and coriander leaves and mix everything together. Vadai Batter is now ready!

      Preparing Diluted Sambar

      • As we are already ready with the sambar, we have to take 2 ladles of sambar in a broad vessel. Add 2 cups of boilig water and make mix well. Also add salt (½ tea spoon or less) and stir well.
      • Keep this diluted sambar ready to soak the fried vadas

      Deep Frying Process

      • Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Test the readiness of oil by just adding a drop of batter to hot oil and see if it rises up immediately in the oil. If so, then the oil is ready. Keep the flame to low-medium
      • Wet your palm. Take a lemon sized ball of vada batter. Using your finger make a hole in the center and drop it gently in the hot oil. Add 3-4 vada in a batch and deep fry in medium flame till golden brown on both the sides.
      • When we take the fried vadas from oil, we have to immediately soak it in the above explained diluted sambar-hot water mixture and allow them to soak till we fry the next set of vadas (for about 3-4 mins)
      • When the next batch of the vada is ready, Remove the soaked sambar vadas in a separate plate or a broad vessel and add this new batch of vada in the diluted sambar
      • Repeat the above step till all the fried vadas are soaked and taken in the vessel

      Plating Sambar Vada

      • Place 2 Soaked Vada in a bowl. Add hot sambar on top of the vada. Then garnish with ghee, coriander leaves and finely chopped onions
      • Delicious Sambar Vada now ready to Serve!!!

      Video

      Notes

      1. Along with pumpkin we can also add carrots, drumstick 

      Nutritional Info

      Nutrition Facts
      Sambar Vada Recipe | Medhu Vada in Sambar
      Amount Per Serving (2 pieces)
      Calories 151 Calories from Fat 18
      % Daily Value*
      Fat 2g3%
      Carbohydrates 23g8%
      Protein 8g16%
      * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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      Instructions with Step by Step Pictures:

      SOAKING PROCESS FOR VADA

      • Wash and soak the Urad Dal and rice together for about 4 hours.

      STEPS FOR MAKING SAMBAR

      COOKING DAL AND PUMPKIN

      • Take the chopped pumpkin in a vessel. Add moong dal and toor dal to the pumpkin.

      • Add turmeric powder and water and pressure cook for 4 whistles.

      SOAKING TAMARIND

      • Soak Tamarind in warm water for about 10 mins and extract the juice. Keep this aside

      PREPARING GRINDING INGREDIENTS

      • Heat oil in a pan. Add coriander seeds, bengal gram, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chili and fry till the dal turns light brown

      • Next, add the shallots, tomato and saute for a minute and then switch off the flame. Allow these ingredients to cool off

      GRINDING SAMBAR MASALA

      • Take all the fried ingredients to the mixer jar and grind it to paste by adding water

      TEMPERING PROCESS

      • Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter. Then add broken red chili and curry leaves. Give a mix.

      • Then add the shallots and saute till translucent.

      • Next, add the tamarind extract along with salt and allow the tamarind juice to boil for about 5 mins to get rid off the raw smell of the tamarind juice

      • Then, add the ground spice paste and give a good stir. Allow the sambar to boil in low flame for about 5 mins

      • Finally add the cooked dal and pumpkin to the sambar and adjust the consistency of the sambar by adding water. Adjust salt as needed.  Allow the sambar to boil for a minute and then swtich off the flame. Garnish with coriander leaves. Now the Sambar for soaking Medhu Vada is ready!!!

      MAKING VADA

      GRINDING VADA BATTER

      • After 4 hours, drain water from the soaked urad dal. Add the urad dal into the mixer jar or wet grinder. Also add green chili and ginger to the wet grinder. Sprinkle water and grind the urad dal. Keep sprinkling water little by little till we get a smooth and fluffy batter. If we grind the urad dal in wet grinder, it automatically incorporates aeration in the batter makes it fluffy. But if we grind it in mixer jar the aeration process doesn't happens and hence once the batter is ready, we need to beat the batter for atleast 5 mins to incorporate aeration and make the batter fluffy.

      FINISHING BATTER

      • Take the batter in a mixing bowl. Add salt, curry leaves, chopped onions and coriander leaves and mix everything together. Vadai Batter is now ready!

      PREPARING DILUTED SAMBAR

      • As we are already ready with the sambar, we have to take 2 ladles of sambar in a broad vessel. Add 2 cups of boilig water and make mix well. Also add salt (½ tea spoon or less) and stir well.
      • Keep this diluted sambar ready to soak the fried vadas

      DEEP FRYING PROCESS

      • Heat oil in a deep frying pan. Test the readiness of oil by just adding a drop of batter to hot oil and see if it rises up immediately in the oil. If so, then the oil is ready. Keep the flame to low-medium. Wet your palm. Take a lemon sized ball of vada batter. Using your finger make a hole in the center and drop it gently in the hot oil. Add 3-4 vada in a batch and deep fry in medium flame till golden brown on both the sides.

      • When we take the fried vadas from oil, we have to immediately soak it in the above explained diluted sambar-hot water mixture and allow them to soak till we fry the next set of vadas (for about 3-4 mins)

      • When the next batch of the vada is ready, Remove the soaked sambar vadas in a separate plate or a broad vessel and add this new batch of vada in the diluted sambar
      • Repeat the above step till all the fried vadas are soaked and taken in the vessel

      PLATING SAMBAR VADA

      • Place 2 Soaked Vada in a bowl. Add hot sambar on top of the vada.

      • Then garnish with ghee, coriander leaves and finely chopped onions

      • Delicious Sambar Vada now ready to Serve!!!

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