https://www.subbuskitchen.com
  • Recipe Index
  • Categories
  • Recipe Collection
    • Paneer Recipes
    • Oats Recipes
    • Millet Recipes
    • Lunch Box Recipes
    • Lunch Menu Ideas
    • Bachelor Recipes
    • Toddler Recipes
  • Video Recipes
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Recipe Index
  • Categories
  • Recipe Collection
    • Paneer Recipes
    • Oats Recipes
    • Millet Recipes
    • Lunch Box Recipes
    • Lunch Menu Ideas
    • Bachelor Recipes
    • Toddler Recipes
  • Video Recipes
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Sakkarai Pongal / Sweet Rice Pongal

  • All Recipes
  • Sweet Varieties
  • All Recipes
  • Sweet Varieties

Ven Pongal | Khara Pongal | How to make Ghee Ven Pongal ?

  • All Recipes
  • Breakfast Dishes
  • All Recipes
  • Breakfast Dishes

Thai Pongal Festival and Recipes

  • All Recipes
  • Festival
  • All Recipes
  • Festival

Paruppu Purana Poli | Dal Poli Recipe

  • All Recipes
  • Sweet Varieties
  • All Recipes
  • Sweet Varieties
  • Home
  • All Recipes
  • Ulundhu Vadai | Medhu vadai | Urad dhal Vada

Ulundhu Vadai | Medhu vadai | Urad dhal Vada

Posted on Jan 12th, 2016
by Sowmya Venkatachalam
Categories:
  • All Recipes
  • Snacks
4.09 from 12 votes
Medhu Vadai, is a crispy and yummy vadai made using urad dal as the main ingredient and other indian spices. We have a tradition to make this Medhuvadai as a Prasad for many occasions and festivals
Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes minutes
Total Time 3 hours hours
Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Medhu Vadai is one of the popular snack in Tamil Nadu made using Urad Dhal (Ulundhu). It’s a great and tasty appetizer. We usually make this vadai for most of the festivals for neyvedhyam (offering to the god). Medhu vadai with idli, pongal, sambar & Chutney is a famous breakfast combo in Southern Part of India. Almost all restaurants serve this vada for breakfast and also during evening snacks time. Making a perfect batter is the secret of this recipe. The batter should be thick and also fluffy then only the vadas will be crispier outside and soft inside. For normal snacks, we can also add chopped onions that will enhance the taste. But for Neivedhyam we don’t add onions.

Tips for making Medhu Vada:

  1. Soaking Urad Dhal : Use whole urad dal for this recipe. Soak overnight or atleast for 3 hours. More soaking helps the dal to grind properly to smooth batter with less water.
  2. Flavor of Ginger and Chili : While grinding the dal, we can add green chili and ginger. If not we can grind the green chili+ginger separately and then add the pulp. Or we can add later to the vada batter once its ready.
  3. Batter consistency : Check if the batter is in right consistency. If we drop a pinch of batter in water, it should float it in water. If the batter gets sunk, then we need to grind it more with little more water as the batter is more dense. More dense the batter, hard will be the vadas’. So vada batter should be smooth at the same time little thicker, lighter and soft. If we are grinding the batter in mixer grinder, then take out the smooth vada batter and beat it nicely for 3-5 minutes using a whisk or ladle. This will aerate the batter. This step is very important when you grind it with mixer grinder instead of wet grinder. Natural aeration is not possible with mixer grinder.
  4. Adding chopped Onions : If we are making this vada as a regular evening snack and not as a prasad, we can add chopped onions to the batter.
  5. Shaping the Vada : Shaping the vada can be done using our palm, zipper or banana leaf. If you are using a banana leaf or zipper, grease it with little oil and then place the lemon sized batter in the middle, make a hole in the center and then gently remove and add it to the oil. If you are comfortable using palm, then damp the palm with water, place the batter in the middle, make a hole in the center and using other hand drop the vada gently in the oil.
  6. Fry in Medium/low flame : While frying vada in oil, make sure the oil is ready first and then drop the vada. Once the vada is added to oil, keep the flame low and then fry patiently, flipping the vada back and forth to make sure its fried evenly and turned golden brown.

You may also want to try:

  • Paruppu Vadai, a traditional neivedhyam (Offering to God)  recipe that we usually prepare for any auspicious occasions or festivals.
  • Masala Vada is a crispy and crunchy vada made with Bengal Gram (Chana dal / Kadalaparuppu) as the main ingreident along with aroma rich spices. The spices we add really brings a nice flavor and makes us to have more and more of this vada.
  • Tirupati Vada is a very scrumptious vada made with whole black urad dal, pepper and salt. This vada is thin, crispy and tasty vada.
Medhu Vadai
Pin Recipe

Ulundhu Vadai | Medhu vadai | Urad Dal Vada

Course: Appetizer, Chat, Snacks
Cuisine: Indian, South Indian, Tamil Nadu
Equipments Needed
  • Heavy Bottomed Pan
  • Mixer Grinder
Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes
Total Time: 3 hours hours
Servings: 15 Vadai
Calories: 343kcal
Author: Sowmya Venkatachalam
Medhu Vadai, is a crispy and yummy vadai made using urad dal as the main ingredient and other indian spices. We have a tradition to make this Medhuvadai as a Prasad for many occasions and festivals
Print Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Urad Dal 1 Cup - 250ml
  • 2 tbsp Raw Rice
  • 4 nos Green Chili
  • 1 inch Ginger
  • 1 tsp Salt (adjust to your taste)
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves Finely chopped
  • 2 Cups Oil For Deep Frying

Instructions 

Preparation

  • Wash th dal and rice thoroughly twice or thrice and drain the rinsed water. Soak the Ulundhu(Urad Dal) and rice in water for 3 hours.

Grinding the Dal

  • After 3 hours, drain water from the soaked dal. Add the urad dal to the wet grinder. Now add chopped green chili and ginger to the wet grinder.
  • Add handful of water and start grinding the dal. If the grinder is not running, sprinkle some more water. In regular intervals scrape the batter from the sides so the dal gets ground to a smooth batter. If needed, add 1-2 tbsp of water only if it is completely necessary.

How to check the right consistency of the dough ?

  • If we drop a pinch of batter in water, it should float it in water. If the batter gets sunk, then we need to grind it more. This is the right stage to remove from the grinder. If we are grinding in mixer, then take out the smooth vada batter and beat it nicely for 3-5 minutes using a whisk or ladle. This will aerate the batter. This step is very important when you grind it with mixer grinder instead of wet grinder.
  • Now take the vada batter in a bowl. Add salt, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Give a good mix. Now our Vada Batter is ready!

Frying the Vadai

  • Now Heat the oil in pan and once the oil is hot, add a little amount of flour to check for the readiness of oil. If the flour comes up right way, then the oil is ready.
  • In a banana leaf or small plastic cover or your palm, add lemon size of vada mixture and make small hole in the middle. Now gently drop the shaped vada in the oil. I normally damp my palm with water, shape the vada and drop in hot oil.
  • Add 4-5 vada  to oil. Keep the flame very low and fry the vada. Flip the vadai to other side to cook properly in both sides.
  • Once the vadai becomes golden brown color, remove from flame and place it on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the same for rest of the vada batter.

Serving Time

  • The yummy Medhu vada is ready to serve / ready for serving or for offering as prasad.

Video

Notes

  1. Soaking Urad Dhal : Use whole urad dal for this recipe. Soak overnight or atleast for 3 hours. More soaking helps the dal to grind properly to smooth batter with less water.
  2. Flavor of Ginger and Chili : While grinding the dal, we can add green chili and ginger. If not we can grind the green chili+ginger separately and then add the pulp. Or we can add later to the vada batter once its ready.
  3. Batter consistency : Check if the batter is in right consistency. If we drop a pinch of batter in water, it should float it in water. If the batter gets sunk, then we need to grind it more with little more water as the batter is more dense. More dense the batter, hard will be the vadas'. So vada batter should be smooth at the same time little thicker, lighter and soft. If we are grinding the batter in mixer grinder, then take out the smooth vada batter and beat it nicely for 3-5 minutes using a whisk or ladle. This will aerate the batter. This step is very important when you grind it with mixer grinder instead of wet grinder. Natural aeration is not possible with mixer grinder.
  4. Adding chopped Onions : If we are making this vada as a regular evening snack and not as a prasad, we can add chopped onions to the batter.
  5. Shaping the Vada : Shaping the vada can be done using our palm, zipper or banana leaf. If you are using a banana leaf or zipper, grease it with little oil and then place the lemon sized batter in the middle, make a hole in the center and then gently remove and add it to the oil. If you are comfortable using palm, then damp the palm with water, place the batter in the middle, make a hole in the center and using other hand drop the vada gently in the oil.
  6. Fry in Medium/low flame : While frying vada in oil, make sure the oil is ready first and then drop the vada. Once the vada is added to oil, keep the flame low and then fry patiently, flipping the vada back and forth to make sure its fried evenly and turned golden brown.

Nutritional Info

Nutrition Facts
Ulundhu Vadai | Medhu vadai | Urad Dal Vada
Amount Per Serving (2 Vada)
Calories 343 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Carbohydrates 43g14%
Protein 14g28%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Tried this recipe?Mention @subbuskitchen or tag #subbuskitchen!
Subscribe to our YouTube ChannelSubscribe! to get Latest Subbuskitchen Video Recipes
Good PracticeAll the Images and videos are Copyright Protected. So please do not copy the content or images. If you want to use, please ask for it

INSTRUCTIONS WITH STEP BY STEP PICTURES:

PREPARATION

  • Wash th dal and rice thoroughly twice or thrice and drain the rinsed water. Soak the Ulundhu(Urad Dal) and rice in water for 3 hours.

GRINDING THE DAL

  • After 3 hours, drain water from the soaked dal. Add the urad dal to the wet grinder. Now add chopped green chili and ginger to the wet grinder.

  • Add handful of water and start grinding the dal. If the grinder is not running, sprinkle some more water. In regular intervals scrape the batter from the sides so the dal gets ground to a smooth batter. If needed, add 1-2 tbsp of water only if it is completely necessary.

HOW TO CHECK THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY OF THE DOUGH ?

  • If we drop a pinch of batter in water, it should float it in water. If the batter gets sunk, then we need to grind it more. This is the right stage to remove from the grinder. If we are grinding in mixer, then take out the smooth vada batter and beat it nicely for 3-5 minutes using a whisk or ladle. This will aerate the batter. This step is very important when you grind it with mixer grinder instead of wet grinder.

  • Now take the vada batter in a bowl. Add salt, curry leaves and coriander leaves.

  • Give a good mix. Now our Vada Batter is ready!

FRYING THE VADAI

  • Now Heat the oil in pan and once the oil is hot, add a little amount of flour to check for the readiness of oil. If the flour comes up right way, then the oil is ready.

  • In a banana leaf or small plastic cover or your palm, add lemon size of vada mixture and make small hole in the middle. Now gently drop the shaped vada in the oil. I normally damp my palm with water, shape the vada and drop in hot oil.

  • Add 4-5 vada  to oil.

  • Keep the flame very low and fry the vada. Flip the vadai to other side to cook properly in both sides.

  • Once the vadai becomes golden brown color, remove from flame and place it on a paper towel to drain excess oil. Repeat the same for rest of the vada batter.

SERVING TIME

  • The yummy Medhu vada is ready to serve / ready for serving or for offering as prasad.
Medhu Vadai
Medhu Vadai

 

(Visited 57,958 times, 1 visits today)

Related Posts:

  • Ulundu Bonda Recipe | Urad Dal Bonda
    Ulundu Bonda Recipe | Urad Dal Bonda
  • Paruppu Vadai | Mixed Dal Vada
    Paruppu Vadai | No Onion No Garlic Vadai | Mixed Dal Vada
  • Ven Pongal | Khara Pongal | How to make Ghee Ven Pongal ?
    Ven Pongal | Khara Pongal | How to make Ghee Ven Pongal ?
  • Kara Vadai Recipe | Karavadai Recipe
    Karavadai Recipe | Kara Vadai Recipe
  • Maddur Vada
    Maddur Vada Recipe
  • Kadamba Sambar Recipe | No Onion No Garlic Mixed Vegetable Sambar
    Kadamba Sambar Recipe | No Onion No Garlic Mixed Vegetable…
  • Azhagar Kovil Dosai | Black Gram Dosai
    Azhagar Kovil Dosai | Black Gram Dosa
  • Sevai Recipe | How to make Sevai in a traditional way?
    Sevai recipe | How to make Sevai from scratch with Sevai…
  • Diwali Snacks
  • Navratri Neivedhyam
  • Neivedhyam Dishes
  • Pongal Recipes
  • Saraswathi Pooja Dishes
  • Signature Recipes
  • Ugadhi
  • Vadai Recipes
  • Varalakshmi Vratham
  • Video Recipes
  • Vinayakar Chathurthi

Sowmya Venkatachalam

IT Engineer turned full time Food Blogger. I ♡ FOOD. I also love food blogging. Did you make a recipe? Tag @Subbusktichen on Instagram. I WANNA SEE!

25 Comments Hide Comments

Sangeetha says:
August 23, 2011 at 6:41 am

Hmmm…. Your vadai looks so crispy & yummy… Mouth watering… Nice picture!!

Reply
Indu says:
September 19, 2011 at 1:38 am

hi i tried this this came out real good and its crispy too…but i cldnt put holes in middle …even if i put holes the flour covers it while dropping in oil…can u help me with that…thanks..

Reply
subbuskitchen says:
September 19, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Hi Indu
Glad that the Vadai turn out to be good. don't worry much about the hole. This is because you made the dough little watery. The dough should be in right consistency for you make the hole. It doesn't matter, if you have a hole in the Vadai or not.. just enjoy the taste.

Reply
Indu says:
September 19, 2011 at 8:57 pm

ok thanks but i will try it again less watery and do with hole too…thanks for ur recipee again…

Reply
Anonymous says:
October 26, 2011 at 4:11 pm

Hi,
I tried your receipe, but I didn't get the crispiness. Can you tell me how long I need to grind the urad dahl?
Suganthi

Reply
Anonymous says:
November 29, 2011 at 8:54 am

hi…if its for neyvedhyam, how can we add onions?

Reply
RAMYA UNNIKRISHNAN says:
March 5, 2012 at 12:19 pm

Hello Ma'am,All your recipes are really mouth watering and I have tried few which turned out GREAT!!

Reply
Anonymous says:
May 31, 2012 at 11:17 am

I feel we may put hole except in srardham….

Reply
Deepa says:
November 1, 2012 at 1:36 am

There is a fool poof method to ensure crispiness. Soak urad dal for atleast 6-7 hrs and grind it,vadas would be super crispy

Reply
Deepa says:
November 1, 2012 at 1:36 am

There is a fool poof method to ensure crispiness. Soak urad dal for atleast 6-7 hrs and grind it,vadas would be super crispy

Reply
mahahem says:
August 12, 2013 at 10:56 am

even some times quality of the dal is not nice, u won't get vada crisp, but soaking too long doesn't get crisp.Put little water,soak for a short time grind thick not watery,then u will get crisp vadas but wash and soak:)

Reply
BaluSreevidyaNZ says:
January 10, 2014 at 1:21 am

Hi Mami,

I love your recipes and try making them regularly. I love your recipes for their simplicity, authenticity, and ultimate taste!
About the crispiness of Medhu Vadai, I make them very crispy by soaking them longer, and frying them on low fire/less power on induction cooker. I will have the oil boiling and then will bring it to low to medium before dropping the vadai batter into it. Fry it longer in low temp, the vadais will remain crispy and fresh for longer time. Also, less oily as well. I don't make much of fuss about the whole in the middle, and instead make shallow scoops on spoon and make flatter vadais for even cooking. This will allow my batter more softer with water, hence softer crispier and melting fried vadais in the end.

Reply
Xtreme No says:
July 1, 2015 at 6:44 am

Lovely thanks for sharing 🙂

Reply
Anonymous says:
September 2, 2015 at 2:23 pm

Mami, your recipes are excellent !!! I have tried many recipes of yours and all have come really Good. Thanks for sharing all your experiences and learning's. Could you please share the recipe of ''PORULANGA URUNDAI'' , if you can.

Reply
Vijaya Rao says:
September 10, 2015 at 9:05 am

Mam did u grind it in a Mixer or Grinder…

Reply
subbuskitchen says:
September 10, 2015 at 8:47 pm

I used mixer.

Reply
Raji Ramakrishnan says:
January 24, 2016 at 11:52 am

hellow

i am raji ramakrishnan from rasavinsuvai.blogspot.in. would like to know whether you know any mantram to be chanted while performing chutti podal for kan drishti. since i could not find any option to ask you in your site, i posted it here. either you can reply here or on my e mail id rajirk22111989@gmail.com. thanks will be grateful to you.

Reply
Dita says:
January 10, 2018 at 5:08 pm

The madhu wadi turned out really good with your recipe. First attempt, really enjoyed them – will make them sometimes for tea snack.

Reply
Sowmya Venkatachalam says:
January 10, 2018 at 7:30 pm

Great to know.

Reply
Anon-E-Moose says:
January 15, 2018 at 1:39 am

The vadai came out perfect. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Reply
Sowmya Venkatachalam says:
January 15, 2018 at 9:04 am

Thanks for the feedback

Reply
Harini says:
August 22, 2018 at 1:22 am

Can we make the batter and store in the fridge and make it next day?

Reply
Sowmya Venkatachalam says:
August 23, 2018 at 9:03 pm

yes we can refrigerate the batter and do it later. But more time we keep, sometimes the batter tends to absorb more oil.

Reply
Priya says:
August 4, 2020 at 12:29 am

Hi
I made the ulundu vadai and it got burst . Don’t know wats the reason can u help me out with this

Reply
Sowmya Venkatachalam says:
August 5, 2020 at 7:38 am

So sorry to know. There are couple of reasons why the vada burst in oil. Some times when we transfer the vada to hot oil, sometimes water may get added to oil that will cause the bursting. or the batter might be watery not the right consistency that will also makes the vada disintegrate in oil. If one vada burst, try adding some rice flour and adjust the batter and fry the rest

Reply

Add Your Comment Cancel reply

Recipe Rating




About Us

About Us

We love Cooking & Blogging. Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. The objective of this blog is to Inspire to Cook.

Categories

Breakfast Dishes

Breakfast Dishes

Indian Bread

Indian Bread

Kuzhambu

Kuzhambu

Rasam

Rasam

Rice varieties

Rice varieties

Snacks

Snacks

Sweet Varieties

Sweet Varieties

Veg Gravies

Veg Gravies

Popular Posts

  • Varalakshmi Vratham / Varalakshmi PoojaVaralakshmi Vratham / Varalakshmi Pooja (6)
  • Brinjal GotsuBrinjal Gotsu Recipe | Kathirikkai Gotsu Recipe |… (5)
  • Peanut Onion Chutney | Verkadalai Vengaya ChutneyPeanut Onion Chutney | Verkadalai Vengaya Chutney (3)
  • Aadi Month Festivals and EventsAadi Month Festivals and Events (3)
  • Pudalangai Kootu | Snake Gourd Stew | புடலங்காய் கூட்டுPudalangai Kootu (Snakegourd Stew) (3)

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Archives

Popular Tags

Accompaniment (25) Bachelor Recipes (197) Beat the Heat (37) Christmas (25) Desserts (30) Dinner Recipes (26) Diwali (36) Diwali popular sweets (31) Diwali Snacks (38) Diwali Sweets (80) Dosa Recipes (26) Dry Curries (48) easy Diwali Sweets (28) Easy Sweets and Snacks (28) Evening Tiffin (36) Festival Recipes (37) Healthy Recipes (166) Kids Lunch Box Recipes (44) Lunch Box Recipes (46) Lunch Menu Ideas (42) Milk Sweets (25) Millets Recipes (34) Navrathri (34) Neivedhyam Dishes (52) No Onion No Garlic Recipes (157) NorthIndian Dishes (69) Onam Special Recipes (34) Paneer Recipes (43) Party Recipes (44) Party Snack (28) Payasam (25) Potluck rice varieties (46) Quick and Easy Diwali Sweets & Snacks (30) Quick Breakfast Dishes (50) Restaurant Style Recipes (36) Sambar Recipes (23) Sidedish for Breakfast (52) Signature Recipes (40) Spinach (31) Tea Time Snack (49) Traditional Breakfast Dishes (34) Traditional Diwali Recipes (23) Traditional Recipes (188) Travel Recipes (24) Video Recipes (258)

Tags

Accompaniment Bachelor Recipes Beat the Heat Christmas Desserts Dinner Recipes Diwali Diwali popular sweets Diwali Snacks Diwali Sweets Dosa Recipes Dry Curries easy Diwali Sweets Easy Sweets and Snacks Evening Tiffin Festival Recipes Healthy Recipes Kids Lunch Box Recipes Lunch Box Recipes Lunch Menu Ideas Milk Sweets Millets Recipes Navrathri Neivedhyam Dishes No Onion No Garlic Recipes NorthIndian Dishes Onam Special Recipes Paneer Recipes Party Recipes Party Snack Payasam Potluck rice varieties Quick and Easy Diwali Sweets & Snacks Quick Breakfast Dishes Restaurant Style Recipes Sambar Recipes Sidedish for Breakfast Signature Recipes Spinach Tea Time Snack Traditional Breakfast Dishes Traditional Diwali Recipes Traditional Recipes Travel Recipes Video Recipes

Categories

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us

SUBBUSKITCHEN | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | © 2018 | MANAGED BY HOST MY BLOG

  • 3288