Ulunthu Vadai / Medhu Vadai Recipe
Hubby's favorite is this ulunthu vadai but I like paruppu vadai than this one. I wanted to try this since long seeing amma making it for years for any festive ocassions. The only problem I faced was the perfect round shaped vadas......I wanted to do justice to this post here, so the ones posted here are the ones made by amma. Mine looked more like bonda shaped, you can see the ones at the back hiding ;) he he but sure am trying hard to get it perfect.

Ingredients:
- Urad dal / Ulutham paruppu (without skin variety) - 1 cup
- Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
- Coriander leaves - 1/2 tbsp finely chopped
- Curry leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
- Small onion - 10 finely chopped
- Jeera - 1.5 tsp crushed
- Salt - to taste
- Water - as required

Method:
Soak urad dal for 1 hour at least. Drain water and keep aside (I usually drain the water completely and then sprinkle little by little while grinding , doing so you can be sure of the quantity of water).
Now grind it to a fluffy texture sprinkling water now and then. Dont add much water as the batter will become runny. Once the batter is ready, add chopped onions, jeera, coriander, curry leaves, chillies and required salt to the batter, mix well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Take a polythene sheet or milk cover slightly greased with a drop of oil. Wet ur right hand, then make a small ball out of the batter and pat it on the milk cover. Now make a hole in the middle and carefully transfer it to the kadai( It only comes by practise,I havent mastered it too).
Fry the vadai in medium flame, turn over to other side once it becomes firm. Take out and drain it in a tissue once it becomes golden brown on both sides.

You can have it as such or with coconut chutney. My option is to dunk it in sambar and then have it....Yummy combination!! Other than sambar vadai I luv it dunked in paysam, it is another yum combo. I used to reserve vadais at the last for this reason :)
You can make chat style thayir vada too using the bread dahi vada recipe that I posted few weeks back.

My Notes :
- Wet ur hands now and then before making balls to avoid stickiness. Once you master this, you can try with simply making vadas with your hands without polythene cover which is messfree too.
- While grinding, add water little by little, If the batter becomes runny the vadas will drink more oil. For perfect crispy and soft vadas the batter should in correct consistency.
- Incase your batter becomes runny add little rice flour say 1 -2 tsp not more than that.
We always make this vadai when there is any padayal at home. Other than that, a perfect guest traditional meal is incomplete without this vadai. It is very crispy on the outside and soft inside.

Bittergourd Chips
Badam Kheer














My favourite is also parippu vadam but i love this too and yours look so perfect.
looks fantastic...the shape is perfect..kudos to ur mom for the perfect vadas..
Reva
I like both styles of vadai. I love this one when it is soaked in curd and served as curd vadai or even with rasam :) yummyyyyyy :)
Medu vada looks perfect and crispy. Love to have with tea.
Nice vadas...lovely color...and perfect shapes:)
Supera irukku sharmi.. pls pass me one. Amma's one is super perfect.
looking so crispy and yummy.
Ohhhhh the vadas look fabulous sharmi. You've got me drooling :)
Love ulunthu vadai, it is a bit tricky to get the perfect shape but I am able to make them after a bit of advise from our friend.
wow, love it, can I have 2 or 3 please?
US Masala
crispy ulundhu vadai ....my fav vadai tooo
I love medu vada, and urs's looks amazing!!!
http://vegetarianmedley.blogspot.com/
This looks and sounds amazing!
Feel like munching some, love it with spicy coconut chutney..Yours looks marvellous sharmi..
Crispy and delicious vadai with some sambar would make me really happy :-)
wow..vadai looks very perfect and delicious....can I have some from that plate? yum yum yum!
reminds me of rak's vada! i can never get the donut shape :)
Want some vadai with chutney please!!! Mouthwatering here ;)
Very inviting vadai..
can t stop myself from grabbing d vada..:)
Tasty appetite
Delicious and crunchy ..... and the shapes are super perfect ! Luv the clicks
Cheers,
Satrupa
http://satrupa-foodforthought.blogspot.com
I can have them at anytime of the day.. love it.
Vadai superb,my mom and MIL too uses milk cover to make shape sometimes if they dont get banana leaf :)
Looks super yum...reminded me of Raks vadai...I can never get the perfect shape :(...
Looks fantastic!!! Crispy on the outside, soft & delicious on the inside..
amazing vadai...gives the memory of my amamma..
One of my favorites. I love to eat it super hot right out of the oil and puff puffing with heat! Looks gorgeous!
I love ulunthu vadai and my mom makes it so well.. You've got perfect colour on yours... wish I could have some now!
Wow crunchy and yummy...
They look really crispy n spongy...now I m craving 4 dem...:(
Ulundhu vadai is an art of making like round chapati :) Love the color of ur vadai!
i'm so bad in frying that i usually burn most of my fingers....must say you are so very good and shape don't worry they are just Perfect :) Happy Pongal
hi sharmi
have doubt about fluffy texture, does it mean grind to a fine paste till bubble pops out like how we grind for idli? last time tried in wet grinder with very very little water the same recipe but it became hard from outside but taste was awesome, today again i want to give a try can u help me dear:-)
@Archana : The batter should be light and fluffy means the batter will have very tiny bubbles if seen very close. Hope this helps! :)
thanks a lottt sharmilee for such quick response will try today and give u the feedback:-)
AWESOME! love vada. I think Indian is the best of all fried foods
Sharmilee.. that looks delicious. I'm from Malaysia and this is my fav indian food since my childhood other than masala dosa. Thanx for this recipe.
Sharmi thank u for your recipe which even i do in the same method but in this recipe I did not see when u have added salt to it. I wanted to know because after the batter is prepared i add salt and it becomes little runny which does not give me shape and some times i take the batter in the spoon and fry it in the oil. I am waiting for your advice when to add water, while grinding or in the batter.
@Praiya : Only after the batter is prepared we add salt along with other ingredients like onion, chillies etc. If you feel it becomes runny then while grinding sprinkle very little water just for the sake to avoid the batter sticking to the grinder. Hope this helps!
Nice Job! :) Have you tried the Wada maker? / DOugh nut maker? I have heard that it gives perfect and identical shape everytime.
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