Udhi vada / Minapa garelu / Black gram fritters

This is another variety which is served as a tiffin in Southern part of India. Can be eaten as a snack as it is or with Sambar , chutney or even with rasam. You can prepare the vada by either making it on your palm itself or can use any leaf like beetle or banana leaf. As I don’t have any leaves and my palm is not big enough to hold the vada, I prepared them on a piece of plastic sheet. Most important thing is always keep a bowl of water next to you whilst preparing the urad daal vada to wet your fingures and avoid the stickyness of the batter.

Ingredients;
Urad daal – 1 ½ cup
Rice flour / ground rice – 2 tbsp
Onion chopped – 2 tbsp
Corriander chopped – 2 tbsp
Pepper corns – 1 tsp

Method:

Soak the urad daal for about 4 hours.

Drain the water and grind it into smooth paste. If necessary add 1 or 2 spoons of water, but try to avoid it. The batter should be stiff enough to form the vada shape.

Vada batter and water

Take the batter into a bowl and mix it with rice flour. Leave the batter in fridge for 30 minutes. Remove it from the fridge and allow it come to room temperature.

In the mean time heat a kadai / pan with enough oil to deep fry the vada.

Always test whether the oil is hot enough or not by dropping a small amount of batter into the oil. If the batter floats immediately, then the heat is perfect. If it settles down at the bottom or floats after a while, then heat the oil for some more time.

Wet your hands. Take small amounts of batter, place it on the piece of plastic sheet or any leaf. Just press it slightly, to make it flat and make a whole in the centre using your index finger.

Slightly wet your fingers and slowly transfer the batter onto your fingers and slip it into the oil. Repeat the same for the rest. Do 4-5 vadas at a time as per your convenience.

Serve them with Sambar and/or chutney.

Udhi vada / Minepa gaarelu with Coconut chutney and Sambar