Mixed dal Medu vada / Uzhunnuvada

Mixed dal Medu vada / Uzhunnuvada

Recipe credit - My friend Shereen

Soaking time: 1 hour
Makes: 10

You will need

200 g ( 1 cup ) urad dal
2 tablespoon moong dal
2 1/2 cup water ( for soaking )
2 green chillies. finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon hing ( asafoetida )
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 - inch piece ginger, finely chopped
1 spring curry leaves
2 tablespoon finely sliced onion ( optional )
2 tablespoon finely shredded cabbage ( optional )
1/2 teaspoon salt ( or to taste )
3 tablespoons water ( for grinding )
250 ml oil for frying

Method

Chop ginger, green chilli and curry leaves. In a bowl, mix hing ( asafoetida ), peppercorns and chopped ginger, green chillies and curry leaves.

Wash and soak urad dal and moong dal for 1 hour. Drain out water completely.

Grind urad dal and moong dal to a thick and smooth paste in a mixer. Add / sprinkle 3 tablespoons water during grinding.

Transfer this vada batter to another flat bowl and mix it with chopped ingredients, peppercorns, hing , finely sliced onion, cabbage and salt to taste ( Finally add salt ).

Heat oil in a kadai / frying pan. Reduce heat to medium. Avoid frying on high heat.

Wet your palms and take batter into the palms. Shape it like a doughnut with a hole in the centre. The reason for putting hole is to allow for expansion during frying as well as to obtain uniform cooking through out the cross section.

Alternately one can shape it like a ball if one find it difficult to shape it like a doughnut.

Release the doughnut shaped batter directly into the medium hot oil.

Care should taken not to splash oil on to your palms.

Repeat this as far as the space permitting in your kadai. For eg I made 4 vadas at a time due to limitation of the size of the kadai ( see the photo below ).



Also too many vadas at a time may result in uneven cooking of vadas. Normally at first the underside of the vadas turn brown. So turn the vadas over so that the uniform color ( golden color ) is obtained through out the surface. Cook on a medium heat. Avoid high heat.

Drain and place on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Serve with coconut chutney / Sambar / Tea / Coffee.