South Indian Medu Wada | Lentil Fritters

Medu Wada is a traditional South Indian breakfast /tiffin dish. Its popular all across India not just in everyday cuisine but also as an indispensable part of the menu on special occasions like festivals and weddings. Made with urad dal/black lentils, this fried crispy snack is delicious to taste & easy to make.

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine Asian, Indian

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 20

Servings vadas

Calories 77.6kcal

Author Priya Lakshminarayan

Equipment

Ingredients

2 cups urad dal
2 tablespoon raw rice
7-8 curry leaves
5 green chillies
1 inch ginger
1 teaspoon asafoetida
Salt
Oil for frying

Instructions

Rinse and soak urad dal and rice in water for an hour.
Drain the water and transfer it to a mixer grinder.
Add curry leaves, asafoetida, green chillies, ginger, and salt to it.
Blitz to make a smooth paste. Add just water if needed to help with grinding. The batter should be thick and not runny.
Transfer to a bowl. Add salt.
Mix. Heat oil for frying.
Slit open a ziplock bag. Open it and sprinkle water on the surface. With wet hands, place a small dollop of batter in the center. Flatten it lightly and make a hole in the middle. Chef Tip - Be careful when working with water. You don't need too much. Just moist your hand and smear the ziplock surface with water.
When the oil is hot, carefully drop the Medu Vadai in hot oil. Follow these steps to make more. Do not crowd the pan. Fry without flipping it for 2-3 minutes on medium flame. It should start turning golden.
Then carefully flip to the other side and continue to cook till it turns golden at the bottom. There should not be any white spots left. It should turn golden evenly.
Carefully take them out. Use paper towels to soak the excess oil. Make as many as you need and serve with Coconut Chutney, Sambhar, or Rasam.

Notes

To prepare it in less oil, you can fry the wada in an appe pan.

Nutrition