Medu Vada in breakfast today for my family.  Cooked this amazing Medu Vada, crispy from outside and soft from inside, delicious and yummy.  My family loved it.  Medu Vada is eaten with Sambaar and Coconut Chutney.  My recipe for Sambaar and Coconut Cashew Chutney with Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tadka is available in my Food Blog http://www.daddyscuisine.com .  Try this medu vada recipe at home and I am sure you and your family will love it.  Medu Vada Recipe – 

Recipe:

Ingredients:

  • White Whole Urad Dal  (with skin removed) – One big cup.  Wash it with water. Soak it in water for overnight or for atleast 8 hours.
  • Black Pepper Corn – 2 tbs. Coarsely crushed.
  • Onion – One large size. Finely chopped.
  • Green Chilli – 2 pieces.  Finely chopped.
  • Kadipatta (Curry Leaves) – 8 to 10 petals.  Finely chopped.
  • Ginger – 1 inch size.  Finely chopped.
  • Fresh Coconut – 4 to 6 inch piece.  Finely chopped.
  • Lime juice – 1 tsp.
  • Salt to taste.
  • Cooking Oil – as required for deep frying.

Method:

  • Strain / Remove the water completely from the soaked white whole urad dal. Take a mixer grinder.  Add the soaked white whole urad dal in to the grinder. Grind it into a paste.  Add very little water only if required.  The consistency of this paste should be thick and NOT watery.  So avoid adding much water while grinding. Transfer this grinded urad dal paste in a large mixing bowl.
  • Keep mixing / rubbing this finely grinded urad dal paste using your palm and fingers continuously.  This process is done so that the urad dal paste is aerated and becomes light and fluffy.  To check if the urad dal paste has aerated or not, take a bowl and fill it with water.  Take a small dumpling or drop of this urad dal grinded paste and put it in the water bowl.  This dumpling should float on the water and not dip inside the water.  If dumpling is floating that means the medu vada dough or grinded paste is ready.
  • Add crushed black papper, salt to taste, green chilli, kadipatta, lime juice, ginger, coconut to the mixing bowl having aerated urad dal medu vada paste. Mix them well.  Don’t add chopped onion at this stage.
  • Keep this urad dal paste / dough for 30 minutes.
  • Take a large deep kadai and sufficient cooking oil for deep frying.  Heat up this oil.
  • Once the oil is heated up, reduce the flame to medium.
  • When you are ready to fry the medu vada dough, add chopped onions and mix them well.  Immediately start frying the medu vada so that onion doesn’t release much water and make the urad dal medu vada paste watery.
  • Take a rice serving steel tool.  Apply water on back side on this tool.  Moist your fingers and make a small ball little bigger then size of a lime and place it on the back side of the serving tool.  Gently press from all side using your wet finger and make it into a flat thick circular shape (approximately 1.5 inch thickness).  Using your finger, make a small hole in the middle of this flattenned medu vada dough on the serving tool.
  • Very carefully place the flattenned medu vada dough from the serving tool to the hot oil by sliding the medu vada dough from the serving tool.  
  • You can also use banana leaves or just your palm to make the shape of medu vada dough into flat circular shape.  Use water to keep your fingers / palm / banana leaves moist.
  • Fry the medu vada from both sides on medium flame until it is half or just more that half cooked or until it turns very light brown from both sides. Remove it from the oil and place it on a bowl having a sieve to drain out excess oil.  Do this for all the remaining medu vada dough.  
  • Once all the medu vadas are half cooked, now is the time for double frying the medu vadas and to cook it fully.  This process makes the medu vada very crispy from outside and soft inside.  
  • Take the same kadai, heat up the oil and keep the flame on high.  Double fry all the half cooked medu vadas on high flame only.  
  • Once the oil is heated up.  Add two or three medu vadas in the hot oil and constantaly flip both sides of the vada until it turns golden brown in colour. Remove the fully cooked medu vada in a large bowl having sieve on it to drain out excess oil.  Do this for all the remaining half cooked medu vadas.
  • Medu Vada is ready.  Hot, Delicious, Crispy from outside and Soft from inside Medu Vada. Serve Hot Medu Vada with Hot Sambaar and Coconut Chutney. 
  • Happy Eating.

Sambaar Recipe:

  • Here is the link to my SAMBAAR RECIPE.  Sambaar

Recipe for Coconut Cashew Chutney with Extra Virgin Olive Oil Tadka: