Medu Vada

We often make this for breakfast / brunch on weekends. These soft and fluffy vadas soaked in Sambar and with a side of coconut chutney, are one of south India's most popular snacks. 

What you'll need..

• 1 Cup urad dal (Either whole or split white lentils)
• 2 Tbsp rice
• 2 Green chillies
• 1 Inch chunk of ginger
• 8-10 Black pepper corns
• 8-10 Curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

How to..

• Mix urad dal and rice and soak them in water, in a large bowl for 6-8 hours. I generally leave it to soak over night.
• Drain all the water from the dal and rice and put half of the mixture into a blender. 
• Grind the lentils along with 1/4 cup of water into a smooth, thick and fluffy paste. Try not to add any more water than that. The grinding tastes about 3-4 minutes. You might have to stop the blender a couple times and take a spatula to mix the lentils in the blender. This helps to get all the lentils to grind evenly into a smooth paste. 
• Now pour this paste into a bowl and empty the blender. 
• Add the remaining lentils into the blender and grind them with 1/4 cup of water in the same fashion as mentioned above. Empty the paste into the same bowl and mix gently. I find it a lot easier to grind in 2 small batches rather than 1 large batch.
• Finely chop the green chillies and ginger. Add this to the lentil paste along with curry leaves and coarsely crushed black pepper corns. Mix gently and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Heat oil in a frying pan. 
• Add salt to the lentil paste and mix. 
• Wet your hands with water and take a small ball of the paste in the palm of your hand. Insert your thumb through the center of the ball and make a hole. Invert your hand above the oil and carefully drop the paste into the oil. Repeat this for all the vadas. Wetting your hand makes it not stick to the batter when you handle it, so i recommend doing this every time you make a vada. 
• Fry till it turns golden brown and crisp. Then remove from heat and serve hot with sambar and chutney. 

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