Uzhunnu vada or medu vada (uzhunnu vada is the malayalam name for medu vada) is a traditional Kerala style or South Indian style deep fried snack which is popularly served as a savory snack for evening tea or as a side served along with idli or dosa and chutney for South Indian breakfast. They are delicious urad dal fritters (deep fried lentil fritters using skin removed black gram) that have a soft pillowy texture inside and slightly crispy and crunch outside texture.
See parippu vada or masala vada Kerala recipe here, which is another very popular similar Kerala snack.
Both uzhunnu vada and parippu vada are deep fried South Indian style bean fritters which are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside which is very delicious when served hot with dips.
What Is Uzhunnu Vada Or Medu Vada?
As I mentioned above, uzhunnu vada is the malayalam name for the popular South Indian style snack medu vada or medu vadai.
Uzhunnu vada or medu vada is made of uzhunnu or urad dal and it is usually very soft and fluffy in texture when prepared the right way.
Uzhunnu or ulundu as known in South India is uradu dal, as known in North India is actually black gram without the outer skin.
We use the black gram (uzhunnu dal) which has its skin removed for the preparation of uzhunnu vada, and so it looks white colored without the skin.
Urad dal is very nutritious and it has many health benefits.
As I already mentioned above, although this is a black gram recipe, we use the black gram from which the skin is removed and so the grams look white in color.
You can buy the skin removed version of black gram or urad dal from stores or online easily for this recipe.
You can buy here urad dal for this recipe.
Urad dal or skin removed black gram is used in many popular South Indian recipes.
The most popular South Indian breakfast items dosa and idli are made using urad dal or uzhunnu.
Idli recipe is here and dosa recipe is here.
See here in detail how to make batter for idli and dosa using rice and urad dal.
Coming back to the recipe, uzhunnu vada or medu vada is a very popular tea time snack in South India which is also served as a breakfast.
They are basically deep fried dal or lentil fritters which looks exactly like donuts with a hole in center, but it is savory in taste.
Why There Is A Hole In Uzhunnu Vada/Medu Vada?
I also often wondered why there is a hole in uzhunnu vada or medu vada, if its just made to look that way.
However the reality is that, making a hole in the medu vada helps it to cook evenly and faster so the outer layer will fry crispy while the inside will be still soft.
It is done to maintain the crispy and soft texture of medu vada and to make sure the inside is cooked evenly and completely.
What Is Uzhunnu Vada/Medu Vada Made Of?
As I mentioned, the main ingredient of medu vada is urad dal or black gram without skin on.
We add few spices like ginger, black pepper and also we add shallots (small onions), curry leaves, chopped green chilies etc (along with salt) to the batter for medu vada, which makes it very delicious and flavorful.
We also need enough oil to deep fry the uzhunnu vada or medu vada for the best results.
If you are making this snack for kids, you can skip using green chilies and pepper powder to reduce spiciness.
How To Serve Uzhunnu Vada?
Uzhunnu vada or medu vada tastes the best when served hot with South Indian style dips like coconut chutney or sambar, but kids will also love them when dipped in tomato ketchup.
So you can use your favorite dips to enjoy the medu vada as you wish although they are usually served with chutney or sambar as I mentioned above.
Make sure to serve the medu vada hot for the best taste.
Uzhunnu vada is a popular tea time snack which is enjoyed in the evenings along with tea or coffee.
However, uzhunnu vada or medu vada is also popularly enjoyed for breakfast or dinner alongside South Indian breakfast items like idli or dosa (they are popular for dinner too!).
So you can serve hot medu vada as a snack or as a side dish with idli or dosa alongside chutney, sambar or any dips like tomato ketchup based on your preference.
How To Make Uzhunnu Vada At Home?
The preparation of the uzhunnu vada or medu vada is actually easy, but it is very very important to make sure that you do not use water in grinding the batter for uzhunnu vada.
You can sprinkle very little water while grinding, only if necessary, but if there is any more water you cannot make the uzhunnu vada properly.
The batter for uzhunnu vada (using urad dal and few other ingredients) should be really thick and once you make the batter, you have to make the doughnut shaped vada by deep frying them.
So here is how you can make uzhunnu vada or medu vada at home following this South Indian Kerala style uzhunnu vada recipe.
Ingredients for Medu Vada
2 cups urad dal (skin removed)
1 tablespoon ginger peeled and chopped finely
2 teaspoons black pepper powder
2 green chilies
1 string curry leaves
15 shallots or use ¼th of a medium sized regular onion or equivalent amount of pearl onions
salt to taste
oil enough to deep fry
Step By Step Instructions
Wash the urad dal very well in water and soak the urad dal in water for about 4 to 5 hours or overnight for best results.
After soaking, drain all the water used for soaking and lightly rinse the urad dal once again.
Peel the shallots and chop finely, keep aside.
Slice the green chilies in thin round slices, keep aside.
In a good quality food processor, grind together the urad dal, curry leaves and salt to make a thick batter. In case necessary, you may sprinkle very little water, but adding any more batter will change the consistency of the batter.
Transfer the batter to a large bowl.
Mix the chopped shallots, sliced green chilies and black pepper powder to the batter, mix the batter very well with hands so all the ingredients combine well.
Keep the batter covered and let it sit there for about 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, we can start making the uzhunnu vada so let us heat the oil in a deep pan for frying the fritters or vada.
To make uzhunnu vada or medu vada
Once the oil is hot enough, dip your hands in water (to avoid the batter from sticking to your hands) and take some batter in your hands to make a ball, then gently press it using your palms and then make a hole in the center of it, and then transfer it to the hot oil in the pan for deep frying.
As the oil is very hot, I transfer the vada (soon after making the hole) to a large spoon and then gently drop the vada into the oil (very gently without splashing the oil) by holding the spoon very near to the sides of the pan.
You can fry three to four vada or little more number of vadas at the same time, depending on the size of the pan you are using. Just make sure you are not over crowing the pan, as we need space to flip the vada and you can always fry the remaining vada in multiple batches.
Once the vada is fried on one side which takes a couple of minutes ( you can see as they turn golden brown in color), gently flip the vada using a spoon or spatula and fry the other side too.
Once the vada is golden brown in color, gently transfer the vada using a slotted spoon (for draining oil) to a serving dish (which can handle hot food, I do not recommend using plastic) lined with paper towels for draining excess oil or you can transfer them to any flat surface (which can handle heat) lined with aluminium foil.
Fry more vadas like following the above procedure until all the batter is finished.
Uzhunnu vada or ulundu vadai or South Indian style dal/lentil fritters is ready to serve! Enjoy uzhunnu vada hot with coconut chutney, sambar, tomato ketchup or any of your favorite dips for snack or breakfast as you wish!
More South Indian Kerala Snack Recipes:
pazham pori (plantain banana fritters)
Below you can get the recipe for uzhunnu vada or medu vada in detail.
Uzhunnu Vada – Medu Vada (Fried Indian Dal/Lentil Fritters)
Ingredients
- 2 cups urad dal (skin removed)
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and chopped finely
- 2 teaspoons black pepper powder
- 2 green chilies
- 1 string curry leaves
- 15 shallots or use¼th of a medium sized regular onion or equivalent amount of pearl onions
- salt to taste
- oil enough to deep fry
Instructions
- Wash the urad dal very well in water and soak the urad dal in water for about 4 to 5 hours or overnight for best results.
- After soaking, drain all the water used for soaking and lightly rinse the urad dal once again.
- Peel the shallots and chop finely, keep aside.
- Slice the green chilies in thin round slices, keep aside.
- In a good quality food processor, grind together the urad dal, curry leaves and salt to make a thick batter. In case necessary, you may sprinkle very little water, but adding any more batter will change the consistency of the batter.
- Transfer the batter to a large bowl.
- Mix the chopped shallots, sliced green chilies and black pepper powder to the batter, mix the batter very well with hands so all the ingredients combine well. Keep the batter covered and let it sit there for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, we can start making the uzhunnu vada so let us heat the oil in a deep pan for frying the fritters or vada.
To make uzhunnu vada or medu vada
- Once the oil is hot enough, dip your hands in water (to avoid the batter from sticking to your hands) and take some batter in your hands to make a ball, then gently press it using your palms and then make a hole in the center of it, and then transfer it to the hot oil in the pan for deep frying. As the oil is very hot, I transfer the vada (soon after making the hole) to a large spoon and then gently drop the vada into the oil (very gently without splashing the oil) by holding the spoon very near to the sides of the pan. This is how I do it, if you have a better way of doing this, please let me know in the comments section 🙂 You can fry three to four vada or little more number of vadas at the same time, depending on the size of the pan you are using. Just make sure you are not over crowing the pan, as we need space to flip the vada and you can always fry the remaining vada in multiple batches.
- Once the vada is fried on one side which takes a couple of minutes ( you can see as they turn golden brown in color), gently flip the vada using a spoon or spatula and fry the other side too.
- Once the vada is golden brown in color, gently transfer the vada using a slotted spoon (for draining oil) to a serving dish (which can handle hot food, I do not recommend using plastic) lined with paper towels for draining excess oil or you can transfer them to any flat surface (which can handle heat) lined with aluminium foil.
- Fry more vadas like following the above procedure until all the batter is finished.
- Uzhunnu vada or ulundu vadai or South Indian style dal/lentil fritters is ready to serve! Enjoy uzhunnu vada hot with coconut chutney, sambar, tomato ketchup or any of your favorite dips for snack or breakfast as you wish!
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