Medu Vada (South Indian Savory Lentil Donut)

A vada is a savoury South Indian doughnut made from lentils (or sometimes potatoes). This is a recipe for medu vada. It is commonly accompanied by idli.

serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 g) skinless black gram
• Salt to taste
• ¼ tsp asafoetida
• 8–10 curry leaves
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp crushed black peppercorns
• Oil to fry

Steps

1. Wash and soak urad dal for 6 hours. Grind into a fine paste.
2. Add salt, asafoetida, curry leaves, cumin powder, and crushed peppercorns to the batter and mix well.
3. Heat oil in a kadai.
4. Wet your palms and take batter into the palms.
5. Shape into balls and make a hole with the thumb in the centre like a doughnut.
6. Deep-fry this in medium-hot oil until golden brown and crisp.
7. Serve hot with sambhar and coconut chutney.

More recipes with urad dal, asafoetida, curry leaves or cumin

Adapted from “Medu Vada (South Indian Savory Lentil Donut)” in the Wikibooks Cookbook by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Reformatted for this site; this page's recipe text is shared under the same license.