Medhu Vada - Savory Lentil Doughnut

Medhu Vada or savory lentil doughnut, is a South Indian snack, it's also a famous Mumbai street food which is mainly had for breakfast.  These are crisp vadas from outside and soft from inside.  Serve these with sambhar or chutney.    Try them and enjoy.

Ingredients
1 Cup Urad dal / White Lentils
½ Teaspoon Cumin seeds - lightly crushed with your hands
1 Green chily -  chopped
1 Tablespoon Rice Flour
A sprig of Curry Leaves - finely chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Baking powder
Salt as required
Oil for deep frying

Method

Wash and rinse the urad dal in water for a couple of times.  Soak them in enough water overnight or for at least 5 hours.

After that drain well and take 2 curry spoons of lentils in a  small  grinder jar  and grind them to fine paste with a  tablespoon of water.  Switch off the grinder  after a  minute or two and scrape the sides of the jar with a spatula and grind again in intervals scraping and stirring the batter a few times till it is ground to a fine past.  When the batter is  smooth, fluffy and soft, stop grinding, take it out in a big bowl .

In the same way grind the remaining lentils to a smooth, fluffy and soft paste.

When all the lentils are ground to a smooth paste add the rice flour and whisk it well so that there are no lumps and it turns light.  Cover this bowl with a lid or cling film and keep it the refrigerator for an hour  at least.

After an hour heat oil in a kadai or pan for deep frying the vadas.
Take the batter out from the refrigerator and add the  cumin seeds, green chilies, curry leaves, baking soda and salt to it and again mix it well it turns smooth and fluffy.

Take water in a small bowl.  Wet your hands a little and take a little batter shape  into a the medu vada (  doughtnut) press finger into center of  it create a hole.   Fry them in medium hot oil till evenly golden and crisp.

Drain vadas on paper napkins and serve the  medu vada hot with coriander garlic coconut chutney or sambhar.  Enjoy ...

Coriander Garlic Coconut Chutney

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Packed Fresh Coconut - grated
A Handful of Coriander Leaves with stems - chopped
3 Green Chillies - chopped
3 Cloves Garlic - chopped
1/2 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

Salt to taste

Method

Grind all the above ingredients to fine paste with a tablespoon of water if required.  Chutney is ready.

Sending this to Foodie Extravaganza Party- Host Lauren Mitchell, thank you dear for hosting this event.

My Notes :
Do not add more water while grinding or else you will not be able to make the vadas easily.  The batter will be watery and the vadas will not be able hold shape.

Do skip adding the rice flour and baking powder, because this makes the medu vada crisp from outside and soft inside.


Labels : Lentils, Breakfast, South Indian, Foodie Extravaganza Party

July has arrived and that means it's time for another #FoodieExtravaganza! Each month we take turns hosting and selecting a foodie holiday associated with that month. Somehow in all the planning July was overlooked so in a mad dash in the second half of June, Lauren of From Gate to Plate told us to celebrate the doughnut. If anyone is keeping score, National Doughnut Day is actually the first Friday in June, but none of us are complaining to be celebrating one of America's favorite breakfast treats today. July is National Culinary Arts month so let's just go with that. Also in July: Fried Chicken Day (today, the 6th), Blueberry Muffin Day (the 11th), and Junk Food Day (the 21st). 

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE

Gluten-Free Matcha Doughnuts – Three Ways! by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Raspberry Cookies n Cream Baked Doughnuts by Baking in Pyjamas

Lemon Poppy Seed Donuts by Making Miracles

Chocolate Snickerdoodle Doughnuts by Sew You Think You Can Cook

Baked S’mores Doughnuts by Tara’s Multicultural Table

Strawberry Shortcake Donut Tarts by Fearlessly Creative Mammas

Breakfast Donut Burger by From Gate to Plate

Cake Mix Donuts by I’m Hungry

Doughnut Trifle by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Watermelon Doughnuts by The Freshman Cook

Baked Cherry Lemon Donuts by Caroline’s Cooking

Orange Glace Donuts by Basic N Delicious

Medhu Vada – Savory Lentil Doughnut by Sneha’s Recipe