South Indian
Medu Vada (Urad Dal Fritters)
Medu Vada (Urad Dal Fritters) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at breakfast and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 2 cups urad dal (split, husked), soaked
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 10 curry leaves, chopped
- 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cups neutral oil, for deep frying
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Soak the urad dal for 3 hours, then drain well and grind it with the green chilies and ginger into a thick, fluffy batter using as little water as possible.
- Whip the batter by hand for a few minutes to add air, then fold in the peppercorns, curry leaves, onion, and salt.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan to medium-hot, then wet your hands, scoop a portion of batter, shape it into a flat disc with a hole in the center, and slide it gently into the oil.
- Fry in batches, turning occasionally, until deep golden and crisp on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch.
- Drain on paper towels and serve hot and crisp.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Medu Vada (Urad Dal Fritters), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Medu Vada (Urad Dal Fritters) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Hearty
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Medu Vada (Urad Dal Fritters) takes about 35 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at breakfast and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on urad dal, curry leaves, and ginger.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from South India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.