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Showing posts with label VADA / VADAI RECIPES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VADA / VADAI RECIPES. Show all posts

December 11, 2013

Masala Vada/Masala Vadai Recipe/Paruppu Vadai

Masala vada
Masal vadai/Masala vada/Paruppu vadai is an yummy tea time snack recipe. My mom & MIL make masal vadai without adding fennel seeds and mint leaves. We mostly make it for guest to serve in the afternoon lunch or for more kuzhambu. Sendhil likes that vada a lot. But I love masala vada only with spices. Before marriage, I used to buy masala vada from a tea shop. I would say it was the tastiest vada I’ve ever had in my life. She usually opens the shop at 11 am. All the vadas will be sold out in just 30 minutes. We have to rush to buy them. She also makes urad dal vada, bonda and bajji.

Once I asked her recipe secret and she told me roughly. Based on the ingredients she told and by referring vahchef’s site for some minute tips, finally I made a great flavoured crispy masala vada. I have mentioned the tips and variations in “Notes” section. Do try this crispy tea stall style masala vada.U’ll love it.

Masal vadai


Masala vada


Masala vada Masala vada - yummy tea time snack
Cuisine: Indian Category: Snacks Yields: 15 nos
Prep Time: 60 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes Total Time: 80 Minutes


INGREDIENTS
1 cup - 250ml
To soak
  • Chana dal/Kadalai paruppu -1 cup
To grind
  • Green chillies or red chillies - 3-4 nos
  • Hing - 1/4 tsp or small garlic cloves – 4 nos
  • Ginger – 1 inch piece
  • Fennel -1 tsp
  • Salt – as needed
To mix in the batter
  • Small onions/Big onions - 15 nos / 2 nos
  • Curry leaves - few
  • Coriander leaves – 1.5 tbsp
  • Mint leaves - 2 tbsp
  • Rice flour - 1 tsp ( optional)
HOW TO MAAKE MASALA VADA - METHOD

  • Wash and soak the dal for 3-4 hours. Drain the water and set aside. In a mixie jar,take the chillies, salt, ginger, hing or garlic and fennel seeds. Grind it well. Then add half of the drained chana dal. Coarsely grind it to a paste (sprinkle only 1-2 tsp of water if needed. But its better not to add water at all). Some dals would be visible. Remove in a bowl. Grind in two batches.
masala vada
masala vada tile1
  • Mix both the batches well and add the finely chopped onions, curry leaves, coriander leaves and mint leaves. Mix well. Add  1 tsp of rice flour or corn flour if needed. Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying.
  • Check the oil temperature by dropping a pinch of batter in the oil. If it rises immediately, oil temperature is just right. Simmer the flame and then make a small lemon sized ball from the batter. Pat it slightly. Make the corners slightly thinner than the middle.
masala vada tile3
  • Drop into the hot oil. Make some more vadas and deep fry them in both the sides till onions & vada turn golden brown color. Remove, drain the oil in a tissue paper. Proceed the same for all the batter. Serve hot !
masala vada tile4

Note
  • Pat the vada little thin to maintain its crispness. Do not cover the vadas when it is hot. It makes the vada soft and soggy.
  • Add jeera if you don’t like fennel seeds. Some people do not like the over powering masala smell. In that case, skip it.
  • For variations,replace green chillies by red chillies. I mostly use red chillies. This time I made with green chillies. U can replace hing by garlic cloves. Add 4-5 cloves in this case.
  • If you soak the dal for more than 3 hours, you can grind it without adding water. In that case add little rice flour or besan flour or corn flour for binding.
  • U can also make this vada by soaking the dal for 45 minutes but you have to add little more water while grinding. But the result will be the same.
  • Adding ginger is completely optional. But it helps for digestion of vada.
  • Addition of oil helps for binding the batter as well as crispness.
  • If you feel the batter is watery or wet, add little rice flour corn flour or besan flour. Mix well and make vada.
  • Addition of fennel and mint leaves gives the taste like you get in tea shops. So never skip it.

Serve hot and crispy vada with tea !
Masala vada recipe

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July 17, 2013

MEDHU VADAI RECIPE (WITH VIDEO) | ULUNDU VADAI BATTER IN MIXIE

Medhu -- vadai
 
I have already posted urad dal vada with pepper  in mixie. In that post I have mentioned the different methods used to shape vadas. By seeing that post many of my reader friends mailed & asked me to post a video on how to grind the vada batter using mixie & how to shape vada using a sheet and some easy tips to identify the consistency of batter. I was hesitant in the beginning whether I could do this and I wanted somebody to help me taking the video.
 
Recently my in-laws visited my place and with the help of my MIL I took this video by keeping beginners in mind. The batter yield will not be good when we grind in mixie as compared to grinder. But I am sure you’ll get the taste & crispness equal to grinder batter. Please bear the mistakes in this video as this is my first attempt. I hope I can do it better in future & update here. I am also a beginner and Iam still in the learning and experimenting phase. Most of us miss the batter consistency adding more water. So I have tried to give the exact water quantity I used . The quantity of water slightly differs as per the quality of urad dal. So keep this video as reference and adjust the water quantity. I have also given some tips in the “Note” section to adjust the consistency of batter if it is watery. Experts, do share your tips in the comments section.

Recently I had vada for breakfast in Adayar Ananda Bhavan restaurant (A2B). I found jeera, pepper corns, onions and curry leaves. So I too started making in that way as my husband loves pepper more than onions. Here I have mentioned pepper & jeera in the ingredients list. For poojas & festivals we add only pepper. Add onions alone or both onion & pepper as per your wish. But remember to add onions just before frying vada else onions will leave water and make the batter watery.
 
Always keep the batter refrigerated till use. No problem if one or two tsp of water goes extra. Batter will thicken if u refrigerate it. If you find the batter too watery, add few tsp of rice flour to make it thick & to make a proper shaped vada. But you should serve it hot . Otherwise vadas won’t be crispy in room temperature. Also if you add less water to grind the batter, vada will be hard. If you add the correct water & grind the batter , vadai will stay crispy even after it cools down. Vada won’t drink much of oil if the batter is right. My MIL used to add a tsp of toor dal while soaking urad dal to avoid oil absorption.
 
Beginners can follow this method. Some people soak little raw rice along with urad dal or add a tsp of rice flour to the batter. All these are not necessary if you grind the batter in right consistency.

Ok friends, let me know your comments if you try this method. Good luck.

Don't forget to check out my latest post with video about medhu vadai recipe using grinder

Do check out my mixed vegetable vada if interested. 

 
 
Medhu vadai closeup

Medhu vadai / Urad dal vada batter in Mixie


Medhu vadai / Urad dal vada batter in Mixie

Let check how to make Medhu vadai / Urad dal vada batter in Mixie


 
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Snacks
Serves: 10
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 30 Minutes
 


INGREDIENTS
1 cup = 250ml
  • White round urad dal – 1 cup
  • Green chillies – 2 nos
  • Ginger – 1 inch piece (chopped)
  • Water – 1/3 cup + 1 tsp (adjust as per the quality of urad dal , start with 1/4 cup of water & increase gradually)
  • Rice flour - 1 tsp
To mix in the batter
  • Small onion/ Big onion – 15 nos / 2 nos
  • Curry leaves – Few
  • Pepper corns – 1 tsp
  • Jeera – 1/4 tsp
  • Asafetida / Hing – 2-3 generous pinches
  • Salt - as needed
HOW TO MAKE MEDHU VADAI
  1. Wash and soak urad dal for 1 hour minimum. Refrigerate it.
  2. Drain all the water and reserve in a bowl.
  3. Take a big mixie jar and grind the chilli, ginger coarsely without salt, water.
  4. Add the soaked urad dal and grind to the maximum without adding water by wiping the sides.
  5. Add 1/4 cup of water and grind again. If needed add more water in tbsp or tsp.
  6. Make a thick, smooth, fluffy paste and collect in a bowl.  Add rice flour and beat the batter well.
  7. Lastly add the chopped onion, curry leaves, hing, pepper, cumin and salt. Mix well.
  8. Heat oil and fry the vada in both the sides till golden in color.
  9. Remove and serve hot with coconut chutney and sambar !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
  • Wash and soak urad dal for 1 hour to 4 hours (maximum) and keep it inside the fridge( refrigerator). After soaking, drain all the water completely and keep in a bowl. Use this water for grinding the batter. Choose a bigger sized mixie jar to hold the urad dal batter. ( jar should be double the size of batter).
vada tile1
  • First grind the green chillies, ginger piece without salt. Grind it coarsely without adding water.
  • Drain the ice water from soaked urad dal. Reserve it for grinding. Then add the urad dal without water and grind for few seconds till it becomes a coarse paste.
vada tile3
  • Now add 1/4 cup of ice water and grind for a minute till smooth. Open the jar , wipe the sides & check the batter. .
vada tile4
  • If it is slightly coarse, add 1 more tsp of water. ( Always add in tsp or tbsp further). Again grind & check the consistency. Batter should be thick, fluffy and smooth. When you drop the batter, it will slide slowly & it will form a stiff peak. One more tip is, drop a small quantity of batter in a bowl of water. It will float on top. Remove the batter to a bowl. Add some water to the jar, run the mixie once. Use this water for dipping your hands while you shape vada.
vada tile5
vada tile6
  • Refrigerate the batter If you fry later. If making vada immediately, add 1/2 tbsp of rice flour and beat the batter well for 5 minutes. Just before frying vadas , add the finely chopped onions , curry leaves and whole pepper corns & 1/2 tsp of jeera, salt. Mix well. Dip your fingers in the urad dal washed water , shape the vadas . Deep fry on both the sides till onion turns golden brown , remove , drain in a tissue paper & enjoy eating hot as evening snack with coffee !
vada tile7

NOTE

  • Do not add salt while grinding the vada batter. Add salt, onion just before frying else it will make the batter watery.
  • 1/4 cup is the minimum quantity of water needed to grind the batter. It differs based on the urad dal. But after adding 1/3 cup, add water in tsp and check the batter every now & then. Please don’t add too much of water.
  • If you add more water, vada will drink more oil. To avoid oil absorption, you can add 1/2 tsp of toor dal along with urad dal while soaking.
  • The quantity of batter may not be more as you get in grinder. In grinder, we get batter for 25 medium sized vadas. In mixie, you can make 10 to 12 vadas.
  • Vada will absorb more oil if u deep fry in low heat oil.Heat of the oil should be right. It should not be smoky. If u deep fry when the oil is too hot , vada will brown quickly but the inside portion will not be cooked.
  • For proper cooking, always check the heat of oil by dropping a bit of batter. If it rises immediately, oil is in the correct temperature.
  • Adjust the flame to high and medium high while deep frying.
  • Deep fry in medium low flame for long time to get crispier vadas. For onion vada, you should remove the vada when the onions turn golden brown. For pepper vada, remove it when the sound ceases & turns golden brown.
  • Shaping of vada comes only by practice. Start using a sheet or ladle for shaping. Then you can make it directly using your hands.
Don't forget to check out my latest post with video about medhu vadai recipe using grinder


Enjoy eating hot with coffee or tea !!

VADA WITH COFFEE

Don't forget to check out my latest post with video about medhu vadai recipe using grinder

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