Hotel style medu vada recipe | crispy medu vada | medu vada

Medu Vada is a crispy and savory South Indian snack made with urad dal, rice flour, rava, and a few simple spices. These soft and fluffy vadas have a crispy golden exterior and a deliciously soft texture inside. Traditionally, Medu Vada is served with coconut chutney and sambar, making it a popular breakfast or tiffin option.

In this recipe, I have shared the perfect ingredient ratio along with simple tips and techniques to make the batter smooth and creamy. I also add rice flour and rava to the batter, which helps make the vadas extra crispy. Along with this, I have shared an easy technique for shaping the vadas so you can make perfectly shaped Medu Vada at home.

With these simple tips, you can easily make delicious, crispy, and fluffy hotel-style Medu Vada at home. Serve them hot with coconut chutney and sambar for a satisfying breakfast or tiffin. Do try it!

Tips for Perfect Medu Vada

1. The urad dal batter is the key to making perfect medu vada. Add cold water or a few ice cubes while grinding the dal, but do not add too much water. Grind the dal into a smooth, creamy, and thick batter. Adding a little rice flour and rava to the batter gives the vada a crispy outer layer. Before shaping the vadas, beat the batter well in a circular motion to incorporate air. This helps make the medu vada soft, fluffy, and crispy.
2. Shape the vada with slightly wet hands. Wet your hands lightly with water before shaping each vada, as this helps prevent the batter from sticking to your hands. If you find it difficult to shape the vada by hand, you can use a tea strainer or a glass to make the shape easily.
3. Fry the vada over medium heat until it turns golden brown and crispy on the outside while remaining soft and properly cooked on the inside. Avoid frying on high heat, as the vada may brown quickly from the outside while remaining uncooked inside.

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Recipe video

Hotel style medu vada recipe | crispy medu vada | medu vada

Author Nehas Cook Book

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Share Email

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Soaking & resting time 5 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 6 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Course Breakfast

Cuisine south indian

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

 

For Medu Vada

• 1 cup urad dal
• Salt to taste
• ½ cup cold water - or as required
• 2 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tbsp rava
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp crushed black pepper
• 7 –8 chopped curry leaves
• 1 tsp chopped green chilli
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• ½ cup chopped onion
• A pinch of hing
• Some coriander leaves
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• Oil for deep frying

Hotel-Style Coconut Chutney

• 1 tbsp oil
• ¼ cup peanuts
• ¼ cup roasted chana dal - daliya
• 2 green chillies
• Some curry leaves
• ¼ cup desiccated coconut
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp jaggery
• ¼ cup curd
• Water as required

For Chutney Tadka

• 1 tbsp oil
• ¼ tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp urad dal
• 2 dry red chillies
• Some curry leaves

Instructions

Making Medu Vada

• Soak 1 cup urad dal in enough water for 4 hours. Do not over-soak the dal.
• Drain the water completely and transfer the soaked dal to a mixer jar. Add salt to taste and grind the dal into a smooth and thick batter, adding cold water gradually in batches. I use about ½ cup of cold water. Do not add too much water while grinding.
• Transfer the urad dal batter to a large mixing bowl. Add 2 tbsp rice flour and 1 tbsp rava. Beat the batter well in a circular motion until it becomes light and fluffy. This helps incorporate air into the batter, resulting in soft and fluffy medu vada.
• Rest the batter for 30 minutes.
• After resting, add ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp crushed black pepper, 7–8 chopped curry leaves, 1 tsp chopped green chilli, 1 tsp chopped ginger, ½ cup chopped onion, a pinch of hing, and some coriander leaves. Mix well.
• Just before frying, add ¼ tsp baking soda and mix the batter gently.
• Wet your fingers with water and take a portion of the batter. Shape it into a round vada and make a hole in the centre. You can also shape the vada using a tea strainer. (Refer to the video for the shaping method.)
• Heat oil for deep frying. Carefully drop the vada into the hot oil and fry on medium flame until golden brown and crispy from both sides.
• Remove the medu vada and drain on a kitchen towel. Serve hot with sambar and coconut chutney.

Making Coconut Chutney

• In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and add ¼ cup peanuts. Sauté until they are lightly roasted.
• Add ¼ cup roasted chana dal and sauté briefly.
• Add 2 green chillies and some curry leaves. Sauté well.
• Switch off the flame and add ¼ cup desiccated coconut. Mix well and sauté briefly in the residual heat.
• Transfer the mixture to a plate and let it cool completely.
• Transfer the cooled mixture to a mixer jar. Add salt to taste, 1 tsp jaggery, ¼ cup curd, and water as required.
• Grind everything into a smooth chutney and transfer it to a bowl.
• For the tadka, heat 1 tbsp oil in a small tadka pan. Add ¼ tsp mustard seeds and ½ tsp urad dal. Sauté briefly.
• Add 2 dry red chillies and some curry leaves. Sauté well.
• Pour the prepared tadka over the chutney and mix well.
• The coconut chutney is ready. Serve it with hot medu vada and sambar.

Notes

• Adding salt helps grind the dal smoothly.
• Do not add too much water while grinding the dal.
• Grind the dal into a smooth and creamy batter. Do not grind the dal into a coarse batter.
• Adding rice flour and rava gives a crispy texture to the medu vada.
• Rest the dal batter for 30 minutes so that it ferments slightly.
• Adding baking soda makes the vada fluffy.
• Fry the medu vada on medium flame.