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medu vada recipe, how to make medu vada recipe | sambar vada recipe

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medu vada recipe
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medu vada recipe with step by step photos – crispy, fluffy and delicious vadas that goes very well with coconut chutney or sambar.

medu vada is one of my favorite snack. medu vada is one snack i loved as a kid and still do. i especially like the crispy and fluffy medu vada dunked in hot sambar with coconut chutney by the side. the combo of vada sambar with coconut chutney is very famous and taste awesome. you can enjoy medu vadas with any variety of sambar.

whenever we would go to any udupi or kerala restaurants in mumbai, i would order either vada sambar or masala dosa. these two were always on my top list of south indian snacks.

i love all south indian snacks and back with mom and dad, i am having a good time to have my favorite south indian breakfast tiffin snacks like plain dosa, rava dosa, appams and of course my top favorite medu vada.

mom made this for brunch and i happily captured the pics. we had medu vada with the sambar and coconut chutney.

medu vada is one of the easiest snack to make. if you have left over sambar and don’t know what to do… just make the medu vadas… dip into the sambar and enjoy…

if there is no sambar, then too you can have the medu vadas with coconut chutney or even with mint coriander chutney or tomato sauce. you could use any dip of your choice… may be even a tahini dip or any cheesy dip will be great.

medu vada recipe

if you are looking for more south indian snacks then you may like these recipes:

medu vada recipe card below:

medu vada recipe
4.66 from 29 votes
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medu vada recipe | sambar vada recipe

medu vadai recipe - crisp and fried dough nuts made from black grams.

course breakfasts, snacks
cuisine south indian
prep time 4 hours
cook time 40 minutes
total time 4 hours 40 minutes
servings 4
author dassana

ingredients (1 cup = 250 ml)

  • 2 cups urad dal (husked & split black gram)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, whole or crushed (optional)
  • 1 or 2 sprig curry leaves, chopped
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1 or 2 green chilies, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
  • ⅓ cup chopped coconut pieces, optional
  • few sprigs of coriander leaves, chopped (optional)
  • salt to taste
  • oil for deep frying
  • some water if needed to grind the batter

how to make recipe?

making medu vada batter:

  1. soak the urad dal for 4 hours or overnight.
  2. grind the soaked dal to a smooth batter with little water if required.

  3. if the batter becomes watery, then the instant relief would be to add some semolina or urad dal flour to it. otherwise also you could add some semolina to the batter.

  4. add the spices, herbs, onions and salt. mix well.

  5. take a bowl of water. apply some water from the bowl on both your hands. take some batter in your right hand from the bowl. give it a round shape.

  6. with your thumb make a hole in the center. you can also use banana leaves or zip lock bags to give the medu vada its doughnut shape.

making medu vada:

  1. in a kadai heat oil. keep the flame to medium. 

  2. once the oil becomes hot, slid the medu vada into the hot oil.

  3. once the medu vadas are slightly golden then gently turn over with a slotted spoon and continue to fry.

  4. fry the medu vadas till crisp and golden. the oil should be not very hot, but medium hot. you want the vadas to be cooked from inside. very hot oil will quickly brown the vadas from outside but they will remain uncooked from inside. less hot oil will make the medu vada to absorb too much oil. even if the batter is thin then also the medu vadas will absorb too much oil.

  5. fry all the medu vadas this way till they become evenly browned and crisp.
  6. drain medu vadas on kitchen tissue to remove excess oil.
  7. serve the medu vadas, hot or warm with sambar and coconut chutney.

recipe notes

  • when making medu vada for fasting, then don't add onions.


how to make medu vada recipe:

1. soak 2 cups urad dal (husked and split black gram) for 4 to 5 hours. you could also soak them overnight.

medu vada recipe

2. later drain the water. add the soaked urad dal in a grinder jar. add 2 to 3 tablespoon water or as required. but just make sure that not to make the batter very thin. you can grind in parts and add water as required.

medu vada recipe

3. grind the urad dal to a smooth batter. the batter should be fluffy, thick and not liquidy. a quick tip is to add a few drops of batter in a bowl of water. the batter drops should float. if they float and do not get dissolved, then that’s the right consistency. if the batter becomes watery or thin, then the instant relief would be to add some semolina or urad dal flour to it. otherwise also you could add some semolina to the batter. but best is to have the right consistency of the batter.

medu vada recipe

4. remove the batter into a big bowl or vessel.

medu vada recipe

5. measure and keep all the ingredients ready for making medu vada.

medu vada recipe

6. to the batter, add ⅓ cup finely chopped onion, 1 or 2 sprig of curry leaves (chopped) and 2 to 3 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves (optional).

medu vada recipe

7. next add 1 or 2 finely chopped green chilies, 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger (adrak) and ⅓ cup chopped fresh coconut pieces (optional).

medu vada recipe

8. also add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera), 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns (kali mirch) and salt as required. addition of black pepper gives a good taste but its optional and you can skip adding it.

medu vada recipe

9. mix the batter well with the herbs, spices and salt. you do not have to ferment the batter. you can use it right away.

medu vada recipe

10. take a bowl of water. apply some water from the bowl on both your hands.

medu vada recipe

11. take some batter in your right hand from the bowl. give it a round shape.

medu vada recipe

12. with your thumb make a hole in the center. you can also use banana leaves or zip lock bags to give the medu vada its doughnut shape.

medu vada recipe

13. in a kadai heat oil. keep the flame to medium. once the oil becomes hot, slid the medu vada into the hot oil. if you really do not care about appearance of the doughnut shape of the medu vada, then just drop spoonfuls of the batter directly in the oil.

medu vada recipe

14. once the medu vadas are slightly golden then gently turn over with a slotted spoon and continue to fry.

medu vada recipe

15. fry the medu vadas till crisp and golden. the oil should be not very hot, but medium hot. you want the vadas to be cooked from inside. very hot oil will quickly brown the vadas from outside but they will remain uncooked from inside. less hot oil will make the vada to absorb too much oil. even if the batter is thin then also the medu vadas will absorb too much oil.

medu vada recipe

16. once the medu vadai is crisp and golden, then remove with a slotted spoon draining the extra oil. fry the rest of vadas in the same manner.

medu vada recipe

17. drain medu vadas on kitchen tissues to remove extra oil.

medu vada recipe

18. serve medu vada hot or warm with sambar and coconut chutney. enjoy. for more similar recipes you can check this collection of 22 vada varieties.

 medu vada recipe




Reader Interactions

{ 134 Responses }

  1. Hi Dasana, The explanation is too good and perfect. I made medu vada yesterday and they came out well. It is just that they were a bit harder to break. I have gone through all the comments and now I know exactly what went wrong. Although the batter was floating,it was not fluffy enough. I will give it one more try. Thanks a lot for sharing such wonderful recipes.

    • thanks shaily. if the batter is ground very well than the vadas become soft. the batter should be light and fluffy and in resemblance look like similar to whipped cream. this consistency is achieved easily in a table top wet stone grinder. for a mixer-grinder one just need to grind the lentils till fluffy and smooth. in case the mixer or grinder gets heated up, then wait for some minutes and start grinding again. a powerful grinder also does a good job.

  2. Hi, i want to know if the batter can keep in fridge?? Waiting for your mail. I like ur meetu vadai recipe…. Tq

  3. I am a big fan of yours. If there is one website I trust when it comes to cooking, then it yours. I know for sure that the cooked item will turn out great. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. Tried medu vada today. They came out really well. The batter was slightly watery. So I slightly fried them. Then made a hole and refried to get donut shape :D.

    • Welcome Swathi. Thanks for your kind words and the trust you have on the website. I try all the recipes before posting them. Thanks for sharing positive feedback on medu vada.

  4. Hi Dassana,
    My earlier attempts to make medu vada(not your recipe) in the past had resulted in the vadas bursting during the process of deep frying them.Since then I haven’t had the courage to try them again though my hubby loves vadas…can you think of why these would burst in hot oil?

    • ashwini, if the batter is thin the vadas will burst in oil. the batter has to be thick to medium consistency. after grinding try add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of batter in a small bowl of water. the batter should float. if the batter dissolves in water, then add some rava or rice flour to it.

  5. Hi Dassana! I’ve tried many of your recipes including this recipe for Medu Vada and they are all really tasty! Thanks for all the recipes you’ve shared and I hope you’ll continue to share! (p.s. You have the best recipes for Indian veg cuisine)

  6. Hi dasana,your recipes are very helpful for me,I tried your medu vada recipe,the taste n shape of vada were perfect only it was too hard to break the vada.can u help me to make soft vada’s…
    Thank you

    • afreen for making medu vadas, always use urad dal which is fresh. the more aged the urad dal is the more hard the vadas will be. also soak in enough water and when grinding, grind to a smooth fluffy batter. the batter has to be ground really well. it should look fluffy somewhat similar to whipped cream texture. in a mixer-grinder, this cannot be achieved as the grinder will get heated up. so try to grind in intervals and grind till you get a nice smooth consistency in the batter. if required, then you can add a few tablespoons of water while grinding. hope these suggestions helps.

  7. Hi dassana! I tried this recipe of ur twice it turned out good .. as my hub ND me are from.bangalore he want me to cook south Indian food coz at present we live in Qatar … so ur website helped me a lot .. can we add ginger garlic paste while grinding as I don’t have ginger??

  9. Thanks for the medu vada recipe with step by step procedure.It came out excellent.I have tried many of your recipes,all of them turn out to be yummy n delicious.Your step by step explanation and note help a lot.

  11. Hello Amit! It’s always a pleasure to try your recipes. I have downloaded the veg recipe app as well..anything new that I would like to make I read many recipes but finally follow yours . It’s easy, delicious, and step by step pic makes it more easy. Thanks a lot..you are helping when mom’s not around ..all the best and success to you always..god bless

  12. Hi Dassana,

    Most of the times (read 98%), I look up to your recipes and website, latest tried being pineapple kesari, I tripled the quantity, the final product aroma wise, consistency and texture wise, in terms of appearance and taste, was just perfect. I just don’t scratch my head for measurements (exceptions are there), work it out accordingly 🙂

    Fantastic space and job, kudos!

    One small thing that I have noticed in quite a few posts. You use ‘Udipi’. Actually, it is Udupi, we pronounce ‘du’ as in ‘do’ and not ‘di’ as in ‘dim ‘.

    • thanks a lot chetna. glad to know that tripling the pineapple kesari recipe worked very well. in mumbai, the term ‘udipi’ is used and even written on hotel signboards. thats why i use the word ‘udipi’. i know it is udupi, but i am so used to seeing udipi and thats why its gets reflected on the posts too. will make a change in the recipe names.

  13. I made vadas as per ur recipe n it turn out very yummy..it was my first attempt to make medu vadas and I m extremely happy with the result. I am following u from almost a yr. I m simply love with ur teaching style ur best.

  14. I made medu vada as per your recipe….it tasted awesome…just one thing it was really oily…on what temperature should I cook it so that it does not have a lot of oil.

    • thanks neha. if the the batter is liqiudy, meaning more water is there in it, then the vadas will absorb more oil. also if the vadas are fried on a low flame or on low heat or the oil is not hot enough, they will absorb oil.

  15. It tried it… It was amazing… Still the taste remaining in my mouth n in my mind.. thanks for the recipe..!!

  16. superb…you made my life easy as was difficult to make new items for kids tiffin. …keep it up and give us more recipies

  17. Respected Ma’am, I prepared medu vadas again. This time I made the batter little soft and fluffy by adding little water and baking soda. I grinded it very very well. This time the vadas came out to be very soft and delicious. I realized last time my vadas were hard as I had not grinded them well, even the batter was not fluffy, I had not added even a single drop of water last time. But this time I was very careful and followed all your instructions and the results were very good. Only one problem is the grinding of batter takes toll of our patience. No matter at end all is well. Thank you once again..

    • thanks for sharing vijay. glad to know 🙂

      for the grinding, i would suggest you to invest in a good grinder with higher watts. the grinding is faster. you can also use a table top stone grinder. though lifting it and cleaning can be a task. i am using preethi blue leaf 750 watts mixer grinder and it grinds the urad dal faster, then the other mixer grinder i have used in the past.

  18. Thanks dassana for the recipe!!tomorrow goin to try my favorite vada for the breakfast..

  19. My girfriend is from south…so to impress her I made vadas according to your recipe…n guess she now love me than before…thanks a lot.

  20. Thanks u very very much Sir. Next time I will try with ur suggestions and give u the feedback.. Thanks once again…

  21. Dear sir, I made medu vadas as per ur recepie the taste was awesome. But one problem was there that the vadas were little hard to it. I did not add any water while grinding nor did I do frementation. Can u plz suggest me how to make them soft without fermentation.

    • medu vadas do not need fermentation. hardness could be due to the batter not being ground properly. the batter should be light and fluffy. even if you briskly stir the batter, with a spoon for a couple of minutes, the vadas will be soft. a bit if water added while grinding will also make them light and soft. before frying, check a small piece of the batter in the oil. if its soft and and light, then the batter is good. if it is hard or dense, then add 1 to 2 teaspoons of water and/or stir the batter briskly with a spoon for a couple of minutes.

  23. Hi, thanks a bunch.
    I came across your site when I wanted to save myself from the little disaster I made.
    I had washed the lentils dried them roughly for 2 hours and ground tthem in a dry jar.
    Soaked overnight. Morning woke up to see the cconsistency gone thin.
    Your one line to add semolina saved me.
    Thanks. The batter is yet to be tried this eevening.
    I was told by my sis to add a pinch of soda to the batter 5-10 minbefore frying.

  24. Hello there,

    I’ve been cooking south Indian food for around 1 year. My husband is from Bangalore and loves when I make his “home food” (we currently live in the UK)

    Your medu vada recipe is the best I have tried so far! He tells everyone how great my vada is… I can’t take credit! Thank you so so much for providing this tasty recipes.

    Only problem is… I’m addicted to vada now haha!!!

    I was just wondering how long the batter lasts? Ive used it the next day, would it last 2 days in the fridge?

    Thanks for your time!!

    • thankyou so much elizabeth glad your husband liked the medu vadas 🙂 the batter should last for 2-3 days in the fridge just refrain from adding salt to them for a longer life shelf. hope this help’s you.

  25. Really its help a lot thanks its really worthy I mean your recipe is very simple that’s the favourite part of this

  27. Hello…thnk u soo much fr ol d lovely receipi …u explain everything vry nicely. .n especially ur explanation with step by step images make everything easy..well m in graduation bt only bczz of ur site. .I ll able to make each n everything. .thnqqqqqqq sooo much:-):-)

  28. Well, this is getting predictable. Oh yes, yet another brilliant success story. ? The recipe is food Luddite proof given the water floating test. It was great fun adding a few drops and grinding until finally, at last, the floating happened. If only there was such a test for the fermented batters….I could graduate the idli, dosa and appam classes with honours instantly without so much homework. Vadas are sooooooo easy, especially when you have Dassana teaching you from her virtual kitchen. With her help I now have my PhD in Vada management – after only one class!
    So were they any good? Well let’s see if the empirical evidence stands up in court. “So Dr Vada, did you or did you not serve your wife Vadas with coriander chutney? Also with yoghurt and Imli?” Yes your honour she had Dahi Vada, I drowned it in yoghurt and drenched it in imli sauce. She then proceeded straight away to drown another in coriander chutney.” “Hmmm and did you bring any Vadas for me to taste?” “No your honour they were all gone, I turned around and all 10 were missing.” Hmmm, unacceptable, I sentence you to cook 30 Vadas a month for your wife.” ?

    • thank you rohit as always. the way you write is really good and brings a smile every time i read your comment. the water floating test is the true test to check the consistency of the batter. for the fermented batters, there is no such test. its just practice and experience that is needed for the fermented batters.

  29. What is the oil used to make .which one makes less absorb .is it groundnut or sunflower oil

  30. Hello, I recently started cooking and most of my learning has come from your site as that’s the first one which pops up when I type any recipe name in Google. So thanks for your guidance.
    Anyway I made medu wadas today following your exact recipe, but they turned out hard, I had soaked whole skinned urad dal for about 11 hours, what could have gone wrong?

  32. Hello Dassana and Amit.
    First of all. let me congratulate you both on your excellent website and the pleasure, and knowledge, it has given to millions. 😉
    Next, … I am so old, that when I first came across your name …. the first thing I could think of was ….. ‘thats more than half a rupee – Dus anna is more than 8 annas !’ . Old joke.
    Today, is March 14, 2015. Saturday. …. in the US known as ‘Pi’ day. Because Pi = 3.14 15 926 53 hence under the US convention – 3/14 – the 14th of March, (20)15, at 9.26 am, and 53 seconds past.
    Anyway, at 4 am this morning I decided I wanted to make Medu Vada. I have not made it in 4 years because my wife hates oily fried food, with a passion. But I had dreamt of it, last night, so I woke up surreptiously, like a cat, and went downstairs to use a Gits mixture for the vadai. The Gits packet was outdated, by 3 years, so useless, and I decided to make it ‘from scratch’. My wife wakes up at 4 am everyday, to go to work – but today, being a Saturday, she was still asleep snoring like a cat in catnip heaven. Since it is -8oC outside, I warmed a bowl of water and soaked 2 cups of split urad dal, and waited for an hour. Meanwhile I made some sambar with 3 pounds of exotic indian vegetables like ridged gourd (luffa – turai, turiya )and shallots and tendli (ivy gourd) and made a good sambar. Then I read and followed your recipe , ground the urid, added hing, ginger and green chillies, and fried in hot oil. And it came out great.
    Then I rushed upstairs, and woke the wife, and gave her the steaming dish. Then I asked her.’Honey, how does it taste?’….. she ignored my question and asked one of her own,’How much peeth (dough) did you make?’. That line is worth a paragraph …..
    It means – I really dont care about how good the food is —- but I KNOW you probably made a tonne of it and we’ll be eating medu vadas, out of our nose, for the next 6 weeks, ….. until we are sick to death, and I will have to make a garland of vadas and wind it around your wretched neck, and hang you upside down ….. After 35 years of married life, my wife has superlative ESP…
    Enjoy the rest of the day, and the coming week. ;-D)

    • thanks gary ji for this sweet as well as humorous comment. i must say you are a good writer for someone who likes to read in leisure with a cup of tea. your comment reminded me of my grand father who use to tell that there use to be 16 annas in one rupee… and from 1 rupee or few annas how much ‘mun’ (unit for measurement) of flour or rice could be bought in good old days. women are always practical as far as household things are concerned. wishing both of you a nice day.

      • Dear Dassana,
        Thank you for your reply and also for not deleting my post …lol. ;-D) I nearly deleted my own post, because it appeared to be so irrelevant and irreverent of your blog. ….. ^_^ ….. Despite of what I wrote yesterday, I am very appreciative and very much in love with my wife – and I think I am the luckiest man in the world, SOLELY because of her.

        I was born in independent India, and until a few years ago, when I started losing my eyesight (long story – ) – I was an avid collector of old Indian coins and currency notes. I have all the original coins that were issued pre-independence and post- indep and also a Bombay mint issue that was a commemorative of the actual independence (day – )of India – which says ‘Jai Hind’ , on the obverse and reverse sides, and was distributed free to all the schoolchildren, in the schools, on that day, 8/15/1947. I also have 10 and 20 Cash (Kasu) coins from Madras, of the East indian co. ( Yes, ‘cash’ was a tamilian east india co. coin – ) and also a ‘Chukram’ ( a coin from the esrtwhile Travancore state). One Travancore Rupee = 7 Fanams , 1 Fanam = 4 Chuckrams, 1 Chuckram = 16 Cash. Plus to make it more complicated, One British India Rupee = 28 Chakram 8 cash. (!!!) …. and One Travancore Rupee =15 annas and 6.83 pies of British India. (per Wikipedia – ).

        No wonder indians have to be so good in math and addition and subtraction. ;-D))

        Have a great week, and continued good wishes for your website and blog.

        • welcome gary ji. i found your comment interesting. previous comment will be appreciated by many foodies so how can i delete it. the coins which u have collected is antique now. most of us have no idea about the old style currency and coins. i liked reading it. i hope someone from your generation pen down all this interesting info so that its not lost. i must say again, you have a good style of writing.

  33. What makes idli vada and sambar great is, idli must be grainer (use idli rice/rawa), Vada must be less dense and more crispy so that it can soak in sambar.
    There are many techniques to attain this for example, always grind urad dal using stone wet grinder, this ensures pluffy consistency of batter.
    Adding cooking soda or semolina gives crispness.
    Another technique is deep frying twice.

    • thanks for these tips and suggestions madhusudhan. i have a stome wet grinder now and it does make a lot of difference to the idlis and dosa texture when grinding urad dal. the same fluffiness can be achieved in a mixer-grinder. for medu vada i use the regular mixer-grinder to grind urad dal, but for dosa and idli i use the stone grinder. agree on cooking soda and semolina. deep frying twice is new to me. never tried this way.

  34. Thee recipe sounds really good. but when I tried to make them fluffy the. vada turns out flat. do I have to add yeast to the batter..If so. then how much?

  36. Medu vada was very tasty and nice..thank u so much..i tried ur lauki ka halwa reciepe also..it ws very yummy…

  39. Its really a nice article on indian recipe.i love to cook different kind of foods..keep giving us more innovative recipes…

  43. Hi thanku for all ur recepies i am newly married and new to kitchen and ur blog always help me in all kind of recepies

  45. Hi Dasanna
    Messaging you just having a plateful of yummy vadas…turned out perfect. I tried makng the doughnut shaped vadas. But I guess, its not my forte. Hence, settled for the spoon version 🙂

  46. Hi dassana, very nice receipe I tried at home.. It’s really tasty..
    Only issue is with the shape of the vadas which I couldn’t get as in the pics showed.
    If you could tell little bit any tricks on getting the proper shape would be really great.
    Anyways thank you so much for the receipe

    • thanks supriya. what i do is i apply some water on my palms. then take a portion of the batter and using both the palms, i give it a round shape. then just press the thumb of the right hand in the center of the batter, which is in my right palm and slowly slid the vada in the oil. but this method is a bit complicated. so you can take a zip lock bag or a banana leaf cut out. smear some oil on either the zip lock bag or the banana leaf. place some batter on it and flatten & shape it round with your hands. apply some water on your hands when doing so. then make an a dent in center. then slid the uncooked medu vada in the oil. if you cannot do any of the above, then just take the batter with a spoon and fry them.

  47. Hi. Thks for telng thz receip. I Staying in south india u hv tld a perfect receipe which v make. Bt i hv a doubt tht hw those vadas wil become crispy. Shal i mix anythg in tht plz suggest me

  48. QHI MADAM NICE DESCRIPTILN. I DONT HAVE OVEN . I WANT TO STORE MEDU VADA FOR THREE HOURS CRISPY. PLS TIP

    • medu vada won’t stay crisp if you keep them for 3 hours. at the most you can just keep them in a foil or a in casserole. they will be soft but the crispness won’t be there.

  50. Hi I made medhu vadas today and they were awesome..I could get exactlythesame as urs..thanks for the clear instructions..

  53. If u can plz give this ans??
    We have to soak first urad daL or after grinding.?
    My usually do it after grinding?

  54. Hi Dassana,
    You explained this very clearly
    I loved ur photos as always
    .
    Please clarify a doubt. I have to make a large batch early morning soon
    Can i make the batter the night previous and refrigerate it and just fry it in the morning
    I am concerned it may absorb too much oil

    Many thanks

    • you can make the batter and refrigerate it. let the batter come to room temperature before frying. it won’t absorb too much oil.

  55. Hi,
    I am following your veg recipes , good job 🙂
    I tried Medu vada but it turned out very hard following your recipe . can you tell me where i must have gone worng ? thanks

    • hi shifa, for how long did you soak the urad dal. the longer they are soaked the fluffier the batter gets while grinding and the medu vadas become soft. since its winter time, i would suggest to soak the dal for a few hours more. i have experience of cooking medu vadas often. when i soak them for 1 or 2 hours, the vadas don’t become soft. when i soak them for 4-5 hours, they are soft and they are too good when i soak them overnight.

  57. Hi Dassana,
    …. Could you let me know the secret to soft medu vadas… mine always turn hard after sometime

    • there are few tips that i can share that will make the vadas soft:

      1: soak the urad dal for a good amount of time.
      2: overnight soaking is the best. i have seen that when i soak the urad dal overnight, the medu vadas turn out really soft, then when i soak them for 3-4 hours.
      3: if possible then avoid water if you can or add very less water just to aid the grinding process.
      4: while grinding, add water in batches in between the grinding process. this incorporates more air in the batter.
      5: also stir & scrape the batter from the sides in the grinder in between grinding.
      6: you can also keep the batter for 30 min or 45 min at room temperature to make them more soft.

      i hope these tips help.

  58. hi dassana…i couldnt make the wadas as ur pics depicts as i couldnt make a hole in between and drop the wadas in the oil right away..so my wadas were in a very bad shape..although the taste was good..anyways i’ll try next time..

    • even i cannot do it properly. my mom is an expert in making the vadas and i cannot even come close to the way she shapes and makes them. i usually just spoon the batter in the oil and fry them. anyways there is a always a next time 🙂

  60. When is your recipe for sambar going to cpm i am waiting coz whenever i make it turns out miserably horrible.pls do give sambar post
    take care

  62. Gosh I have never seen such awesome pixs of the medu vadas and the receipe is also given so beautifully my fly and myself live in NZ and its so expensive to buy these from Indian shops hope I can make them for my fly. Thank you so much for them . Going to try out the idlis too as we just love south indian food and miss it so much.Just waiting to go home and make all this for this weekend.

    • thanks anjum. i know even abroad a plate of samosa costs too much. here one plate of samosa is 10 or 15 Rs, if you buy from a sweet shop. but the same plate of samosa will cost around 50 Rs with taxes etc in cafe coffee day outlets.

      its always better to make snacks like these at home. do lemme know how the medu vadas turned out.

      • Hi,

        Thank you for the recipe. I had tried this recipe some time back and it had come out very well. . But this time I don’t know what happened, I slowly placed the batter in the oil and after couple of minutes the Vada started breaking and oil started spluttering all over. I turned off the stove and got scared so much that I gave up doing it. I had used wet grinder to grind it and started making it after keeping the batter for 30 minutes. The batter was super soft and fluff. Do you know what could have gone wrong with it?

        • welcome vinutha. the batter has to be thick. it has become thin. thats why the vada was breaking in the oil. to correct the consistency of batter you could have added some rice flour or rava to it. after that you could have made the vadas. such things happen while cooking.

          • Thanks for the simple instruction. Tommorow I shall tell my Filipino cook to make some Vadas. Being only vegetarian on board I have to start exploring further dishes also.