Ulundu Vadai or Medhu Vadai or Urad dal Vada is a deep-fried savory recipe prepared with Urad dal / black lentils, spiced up with green chilies. These vadas are very common in the evening snack menu of many restaurants, and also, it is a favorite tiffin combo dish. Idli-vada and pongal-vada are quite popular all over Tamil Nadu.
Along with Masala vadai, you can find these delicacies too, pretty much in all the tea stalls in TN. Also, these vadas are prepared on festival days too. I usually skip onions if I am preparing it during festival days.
Ulundu vadai is unique and interesting because of its shape. It’s the Indian savory donut with the hole in the center. Getting that perfect shape took me a couple of years. Kiddo loves this vadai and I prepare a small batch whenever I soak rice and urad dal for idli/dosa. I grind urad dal first and set aside some for vadai. When I started to prepare them initially, I never got that shape. My vadai will look like bondas.
I slowly learned the consistency and that’s when I stumbled upon a YouTube video. I went with my own measurements but her tip of keeping the batter in the fridge for some time works like a charm. And also I learned the vadai shaping process from that video. If the batter consistency is perfect, preparing the perfect shaped vadas is also easy. I know I can still get better at shaping the vadas. Getting there slowly.
I wanted to try a video of the vada shaping process but M who was helping me through the process got a call during that step and we couldn’t do capture a video and I was so busy shaping and frying the vadas and I couldn’t do step by step pics either. I hope I have explained the steps clearly. As I have mentioned the reasons and alternatives in the stepwise procedure, I didn’t add a separate notes section.
Ingredients:
- Urad dal – 1 cup
- Green chili – 1 (I used a big serrano chili. Adjust according to the chili and your taste preference)
- Salt – 2 taps, or to taste
- Chopped Onion – 1/4 cup (Optional, If I am preparing for poojas I avoid these)
- Cilantro – a handful
- Oil for frying
- Water – 1/4 to 1/2 cup
- Chopped Ginger and Peppercorns can be added. I didn’t add in this recipe.
Preparing the Ulundu Vadai Batter:
- Wash the urad dal and soak it for about 3 to 4 hrs.
- Drain the water and grind it along with the green chili. As I used serrano chili, I went with one. Please adjust the number of chilies as per your taste preference.
- Grind it by just drizzling water, not more than 1/2 cup of water. I ground it using my wet grinder. At the maximum, you need only 8 to 10 tbsps of water.
Checking the Batter Consistency:
- Take a bowl of water or a glass of water.
- Take a small amount from the batter and drop it the glass of water.
- It should not spread out or dissolve and mix with water. It should maintain its shape and should float on top like below. That’s the right consistency.
Adding Other Ingredients:
- Keep this ground batter in the fridge for half an hour.
- Now take the batter out and add the chopped cilantro, onions, and salt. Salt should be added just before frying. Salt has the tendency of ooze out water and it will make the batter watery.
- Mix this well and let it sit till the oil gets heated.
Shaping the Ulundu Vadai and Frying:
- Heat the oil required for frying in wide kadai. Once the oil is hot bring it to medium and let it stay in medium heat for a few minutes. Frying in hot oil, might brown the vadai and also inside might not be cooked well. For soft and crispier vadai, frying it in medium heat is the best.
- While the oil is getting hot, keep the batter and wide bowl with water.
- Wet your palm and shake off the excess water. Take a lemon sized batter and slowly toss it in your palm to make a ball.
- Now bring this ball to the top of your palm and keep your thumb finger free. Basically the batter should be in your forefinger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinky. Now with the thumb finger make a nice big hole in the center and slowly drop in the oil.
- After 30 seconds flip the vadai and let it cook on the other side.
- Deep fry until it turns light golden brown and by that time the oil bubble sound will also cease.
- Repeat this process for the remaining vadai. In one batch I fried 3 vadas.
That’s it. Yummy vada is ready. I served this with chutney. But sambar is also the best bet. :-)
Ulundu Vadai | Urad Dal Vada
Equipment
- Frying pan
- Blender or wet grinder
Ingredients
Instructions
Preparing the Batter
- Wash the urad dal and soak it for about 3 to 4 hrs.
- Drain the water and grind it along with the green chilli. As I used serrano chilli, I went with one. Please adjust the number of chillies as per your taste preference.
- Grind it by just drizzling water, not more than 1/2 cup of water. I grinded it using my wet grinder.
Checking the Batter Consistency
- Take a bowl of water or glass of water.
- Take a small amount from the batter and drop it the glass of water.
- It should not spread out or dissolve and mix with water. It should maintain its shape and should float on top like below. That’s the right consistency.
Adding Other Ingredients
- Keep this ground batter in the fridge for half an hour.
- Now take the batter out and add the chopped cilantro, onions and salt. Salt should be added just before frying. Salt has the tendency of ooze out water and it will make the batter watery.
- Mix this well and let it sit till the oil gets heated.
Shaping the Vadai and Frying
- Heat the oil required for frying in wide kadai. Once the oil is hot bring it to medium and let it stay in medium heat for few minutes. Frying in hot oil, might brown the vadai and also inside might not be cooked well. For soft and crispier vadai, frying it in medium heat is the best.
- While the oil is getting hot, keep the batter and wide bowl with water.
- Wet your palm and shake off the excess water. Take a lemon sized batter and slowly toss it in your palm to make a ball.
- Now bring this ball to the top of your palm and keep your thumb finger free. Basically the batter should be in your forefinger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky. Now with the thumb finger make a nice big hole in the center and slowly drop in the oil.
- After 30 seconds flip the vadai and let it cook on the other side.
- Deep fry until it turns light golden brown and by that time the oil bubble sound will also cease.
- Repeat this process for the remaining vadai. In one batch I fried 3 vadas.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
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