Ke Uzhunnu Vada Recipe | Medu Vada Recipe | Garelu Recipe | How to Make Uzhunnu Vada In Mixer Grinder F

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Uzhunnu Vada Recipe | Medu Vada Recipe | Garelu Recipe | How to Make Uzhunnu Vada In Mixer Grinder


Uzhunnu vada with step by step photos and video


Today, I am planning to share a well-known south Indian deep fried  teatime snack, uzhunnu vada. Making uzhunnu vada needs experience and skills. But today, the recipe I am sharing here is fool proof one. Do understand the tips and tricks carefully and then start making the vadas. 

    What is uzhunnu vada?

    Uzhuunu vada is a famous Indian deep fried donuts made with black lentils. It is also known as medu vada in Tamil Nadu, garelu in Andra and uzhunnu vada in Kerala.  


    How to Serve Uzhunnu vada ?

    Uzhunnu vada is generally served as a teatime snack in Kerala. But when we go to the Tamil based hotels like Saravana Bhavan, Anadha Bavan etc, it will be served with coconut chutney and sambar. You might have heard of the famous south Indian breakfast combo, idli vada or dosa vada. I like to have vada simply with a cup of hot tea or coffee. 

    How to Make uzhunnu vada? 

    The Main ingredient of Uzhuvada or medu vada is black lentil. The black lentil or uzhunnu is first soaked in water for a short period of time and then it will be ground till smooth and fluffy. Further, it will be mixed with some spices such as shallots, green chilies, curry leaves, ginger etc. Then shaped and deep fried.  Very simple right, but not exactly.

    Making uzhunnu vada is not an easy task.  Only experts can make it perfectly. But trust me, this recipe is for newbies. There are some key points which be explained in the following sections. Follow them correctly and make fluffy and soft uzhunnu vada in Mixer grinder.


    Tips to make Perfect uzhunnu Vada at home...

    Soaking time: -Black gram or uzhunnu should not be soaked for a long time. Actually, I recommend you to soak only for one hour, but not more than that.  With time, the lentil will absorb more water than necessary making batter thin. Thin batter means imperfect vadas. 

    Grinding equipment : - In hotels, large wet grinders are used to grind the lentil. Such wet grinder will make the batter nicely aerated and fluffy. 

    When we grind the lentil in mixer jar, the batter won't be aerated as much as desired. This will make the vada hard and tasteless.  But don't worry, this problem will be resolved in this recipe.


    Consistency of batter : - Consistency of batter is the most important thing in the preparation of uzhunnu vada. Uzhunnu Vada batter should be thick, fluffy and aerated. There is an easy method to check the consistency. Take a glass full of water.  Drop a small portion of batter, if it floats and do not get dissolved, then the batter will be at the right consistency. Otherwise, beat the batter with your hands and then check again. 



    Uzhunnu Vada Recipe | Medu Vada Recipe | Garelu 

    Recipe | How to Make uzhunnu Vada in Mixer 

    Grinder



    South Indian Deep Fried Black Lentil Fritters

    Preparation time: 3 hours | Cooking time: 20 minutes | Total time: 3 hours 20 minutes



    Ingredients

    • 1.5 cups of black gram / uzhunnu | Urad dal (husked and whole)
    • 1/2 cup shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
    • 2 to 3 green chilies, finely chopped
    • 1/2 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
    • 2 small springs of curry leaves, finely chopped
    • 10 to 15 black peppercorns, crushed
    • 2 tbsp rice flour
    • 2 tsp semolina (rava)
    • Salt to taste
    • Water as needed
    • Oil for frying


    How to make uzhunnu vada





    Uzhunnu vada with step by step Photos


    Making uzhunnu vada is not an easy task, please go through the recipe carefully, understand the tricks and then start making.
    Step 1: Soaking

    • Take 1.5 cups of black gram in a bowl. 

    • Pour at least three cups of water. Then set aside only for one hour. This time period is very important, do not let the gram be in the water for more time.

    • The black gram will absorb water during this period and will increase its volume. 
    • Wash it in normal water for two to three times. Then drain excess water and set aside.

    Step 2: Grinding

    Both wet grinder and mixer grinder can be used for grinding. It's your choice. Today, in this recipe, we will use the mixer grinder. Whether you choose a wet grinder, process is same. 

    To grind the soaked black gram, I used a small chutney jar of mixer grinder. This will help to get the batter smooth with less amount of water compared to the large mixer jars. Also, we will grind it in three subsequent batches. 
    1. Transfer soaked black gram in the mixer jar.

       
    2. Pour one or two teaspoons of water. Do not pour more water at a time, you can add more if necessary. Remember, I used less than 1/2 cup of water to grind 1.5 cup of black gram.


    3. Grind using the pulse button of your mixer grinder. Stop the grinder in between and scrape the sides and bottom with a spoon and restart grinding. Sprinkle water if necessary. Make sure the blender never gets warm while you grind.

    4. Make a thick and smooth batter. The batter will be lightly fluffy, aerated and white at this stage.  In the same way, grind the remaining black gram. 

    How to make the batter aerated?

    After grinding, the batter will be lightly aerated and fluffy. But not as much as required. So we are going to aerate the batter and adjust the consistency in the following two steps.

    Step 4: Adjusting the batter consistency
    1. Transfer the batter into a bowl. 
    2. Now beat the batter continuously with your hand for the next five minutes. The batter will slightly increase its volume. You can use a hand whisk or an electric whisk also.

    3. Add 2 tablespoons of rice flour. Use smoothly ground rice flour or appam /idiyappam flour. 

    4. Mix well. The batter will turn thicker after adding rice flour.

       
    How to Check the uzhunnu vada batter consistency?

    1. To check the batter consistency use a glass of water. Drop a small portion of the batter.

    2. If the batter floats and does not dissolve, then your batter is at the right consistency.
    Step 5 : Fermentation

    Sorry, I am not giving the traditional way of uzhunnu vada preparation. As I told earlier, traditional method needs experience and patience. The vada will be made immediately after grinding. Here we are following the restaurant method. I don't know whether this step can be called a fermentation step or not. We won't allow the batter to turn sour or fully ferment. Over fermentation will leave a sour taste in the vada. Depending on the climatic conditions you have to adjust the fermentation time.  

    1. Cover the batter with a plate or a thin cling film. Set aside to ferment. In summer for two hours and in winter for four to five hours.

    2. After fermentation, the batter will be fluffy and loose.
    Step 5 : Mixing the spices 

    Never skip any of these ingredients. All of them are equally important. 
    1. Put finely chopped green chilies, ginger, shallots, curry leaves, crushed peppercorns  and salt.

    2. Mix well. The batter will be a little bit loose at this stage. You won't be able to shape the vadas properly at this consistency.

    3. For easiness in shaping, let us add two teaspoons of semolina.
    4. Mix well. Keep aside for ten minutes.
    Step 6 :-Shaping the vada

    Before shaping the vada, heat oil in a wide kadai over high flame. When the oil turns hot, reduce the flame to medium. Then only start shaping the batter. The shaped batter should be immediately dropped into the hot oil.
    1. Dip your palm in water. When wet, shake and remove extra water. Water should not be dripping from your hands.

    2. Take a small portion of the batter with your wet hand and make a ball,. Next, gently flatten with your thumb.
    3. Then carefully create a small hole in the center. The hole should be large enough to see your fingers below.

    Step 7:- Frying
    1. Gently and carefully put the shaped batter in the hot oil. 

    2. Fry three to four vadas at a time. Never overcrowd.
    3. Flip two to three times in between. But start flipping when the batter gets cooked and come to a light golden color.

    4. When golden brown in color, remove them to a colander and serve hot.


    5. Enjoy.


    Happy cooking
    Anju    
        

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    2 Comments

    1. Hi , easy recipe with tips. I have make the wadas early morning g at 5 am , so can I grind the batter and keep in fridge ? Also should I bring it to room temperature before frying?

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      Replies
      1. Certainly, you can. But as soon as the batter is prepared, place it in the fridge.

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