Medu Vadas Baked – No Fry

Medu vada is an Indian fritter made from Vigna mungo. It is usually made in doughnut-shape, with a crispy exterior and soft interior. A popular food item in the South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisines, it is generally eaten as a breakfast or a snack.
Medu Vada also known as Urad vada since they are prepared from Urad but I am not a big fan of urad alone so I add little bit rice and Chana dal and thsese vadas taste so much better than made with only urad.
In this post you will learn to make these vadas at home two ways. I am going to share baked and fried Vadas. Not only that, I am going to share two ways of preparing the batter as well.
Since Dhokla, Khaman, Idli, Dosa, Uttapam are always on my go to menu and so I keep all kinds of homemade flour mixes ready to use anytime I want to prepare those recipes. In the video below, you can learn how to make homemade Medu Vada Mix and no fry Vada recipe.


I specifically purchased Cuisinart DBM-8 Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill to make all kinds flour mixes at home. You can watch the video below.

Recently, I invested in Babycakes Multi-Treat Baker to prepare all kinds of healthy treats. Now, I don’t have to fry all my traditional favorites such as vadas, cutlets and more.

I purchased this actually to prepare quick treats for my kids such as cake pops, donuts, cupcakes and more and guess what I am so loving these days to prepare all my traditional favorites that I was ignoring due to greasy oil…now that I have Multi Treat Maker, everything has become so easy to prepare and enjoy! You can watch the video below to learn more about this treat maker.

Now, if you decide to stick to the traditional recipe, you can watch the video below.

Medu Vadas

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Author: Bhavna

Ingredients

FOR THE BATTER

  • Urad dal 1 Cup (16 tbs) (Black gram)
  • Tuvar dal 1/4 Cup (4 tbs)
  • Rice 2 Tablespoon
  • Water 1/4 Cup (4 tbs) (As needed to grind the batter)

SPICES FOR THE BATTER

  • Onion 1/4 Cup (4 tbs), chopped finely
  • Coriander leaves 1/4 Cup (4 tbs), chopped finely
  • Ginger paste/Minced ginger To Taste
  • Green chili paste/Minced green chilies To Taste
  • Shredded coconut 1 Tablespoon
  • Cumin seeds 1/2 Tablespoon
  • Salt To Taste
  • Curry leaves 5 Medium , torn

FOR FRYING THE VADAS

  • Oil 2 Cup (32 tbs) (As needed for deep frying)

Things You Will Need

  • 1. A grinder – to grind the rice and dal (A juicer may also be used)
  • 2. Medu vada maker (If not available – you can make the medu vadas using your hands as well)

Instructions

GETTING READY

  • Wash and soak the rice and dal in water for a couple of hours.
  • After a couple of hours, drain (saving very little water as needed for the grinding process), in a grinder (juicer) grind the rice and dal to a thick and fine consistency batter.
  • Transfer the batter into a mixing bowl.
  • Into the batter, add the finely chopped onions, finely chopped coriander leaves, ginger and green chili paste, shredded coconut, cumin seeds, salt and a few curry leaves. Stir lightly in one direction to combine the ingredients.

MAKING

  • Heat oil in a pan for frying. Once the oil is hot enough, moisten your hands with water and drop small portions of the batter carefully into the hot oil.
  • Fry till golden brown. Remove the Mysore bondas into a kitchen paper towel to remove the excess oil.
  • To make the medu vada, fill the batter into the vada maker, and release into the hot oil in batches. Fry until golden brown on both sides and remove on to a paper towel.

SERVING

  • Serve the medu vadas and Mysore bondas, for breakfast with sambar and coconut chutney or as an appetizer or snack.

NOTE

  • Traditionally medu vada is prepared with only urad dal.