There really isn’t a specific recipe for Sambar Vadai. If you know how to make Medhu Vadai and you have a good sambar recipe in hand, just use them both and dunk the vadai into the sambar before serving. That’s really it.
I made Sambar Vadai for breakfast one day (with leftover soaked urad dal from making idli batter) and had so much fun photographing it that I had to share the recipe with all the pics I took! So excuse the slight overdose of pictures in this post.
If you look past the fact that Medu Vada is fried, this is a no-carb Indian breakfast. Well, that’s how I consoled myself anyway 😀
Just a note on the making of the Medhu Vadai. Over the years, I have stumbled and fallen quite a few times before I got near-perfect Medhu Vadais going in my kitchen. There’s only one thing that matters while making the vadai and that is The Consistency Of The Batter. Nothing else will make or break your vadai and the sad part here is, it’s tough to get it right without practice. At least, that’s my experience but if any of you have a quick tip for getting the perfect Medhu Vadai batter, do share, I am all ears.
If your Medhu Vadai Batter is too thick: The vadai will shape up super nicely but they will be hard after frying.
If your Medhu Vadai Batter is too thin: The vadai will refuse to shape up like a donut and they also end up “drinking” too much oil resulting in mushy vadai.
If I had to pick, I’d go with mushy vadai I guess. Don’t let any of this deter you though.
My Amma, even today, claims she can’t shape medhu vadai and continues to drop blobs of batter into oil and makes ball-shaped vadai. None of us kids complained.
My K. Athamma is incapable of making a bad vadai. No matter how tired or rushed she is, her vadai is always perfect.
So there you go, don’t take it personally. Getting perfectly Medhu Vadai is not for everyone but that shouldn’t stop you from making and eating them.
Sambar Vadai Recipe
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes 8-10 Medhu Vadai depending on size
Ingredients:
For the Medhu Vadai:
1 cup of whole, skinned, urad dal
2 of green chillies, chopped
2 tsp of whole, black pepper
10-12 of curry leaves, torn roughly
2 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
1 tsp of minced ginger (optional)
4 cups of oil, to deep fry, depending on the size of your pan
To Make the Medhu Vadai:
– Soak the urad dal for at least 45 mins in enough water.
– Grind adding water by the teaspoon until you have a smooth, thick batter that falls off with reluctance as you drop it off a spoon.
– Mix the rest of the ingredients (except oil) with the batter.
– Heat oil until smoking point
– Shape the vadai using wet hands into a donut shape (read notes)
– Dunk into the hot oil. Take care not to over crowd the pan and also, regulate the heat to medium-low so that the insides of the vadai get cooked and the outside crisps up.
– Drain and set aside until you are done with making all the vadai.
When making Sambar for Sambar Vadai, I generally use one of two sambar recipes. Pick any one that you prefer:
Arachuvitta Sambar
Sambar with Fresh Sambar Powder (minus the vegetables)
Notes:
– Make the sambar first. That makes things easier.
– Some people find it easier to do shape Medu Vada with one hand: Place the batter in the middle of your palm and form the hole with thumb of the same hand. Or, use the index finger of the other hand to form the hole. Others find it easier to use greased banana leaves or cling wrap to shape the vadai and then use a spatula to dunk into the oil. I am a one-hand-medhu-vadai-shaper, but it did take quite a bit of practice.
– I would recommend adding the vadai to the sambar or sambar to the vadai (whichever you prefer) 5 mins before serving. However, if you prefer Restaurat-Style Sambar Vadai which is more spongy and soaked, then dunk them into a bowl of water as soon as they are out of the oil, let them soak for about 3 mins, and then take out, squeeze out the excess water and add to the sambar.
– I read somewhere that if you add a spoon of hot oil to the urad dal batter, the vadai doesn’t get too oily. I forget to try it each time I make Medu Vada so if you have tried it, do let me know how that went.
great clicks nags. i still cannot shape them. you do them so perfectly. i like your amma just add spoonsfuls of batter in the oil 🙂
wow what an excellent click of droplets of sambhar…. i love this combo always… now feel very hungry…
nags,
just wanted to share a tip i collected from 'vah chef' sanjay thumma, and it works perfect for me every single time i make vadas.
once you grind the dal, and mix in the other ingredients, aerate the batter well by beating it using hand… i mean like how you'd beat an egg using a fork or spoon.. take a glass of normal water, and drop in a bit of the batter, if it floats on top it is perfectly done.. if it sinks, it means it needs more aeration..
and then use wet hands make it into a ball.. and put the ball in in the oil , but just before dropping it..with the same hand you hold the ball, insert your thumb into the middle of the ball and let go.. it will form a beautiful donut shape in the hot oil.. and it will be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.. and stays the same even after hours of making..
if you want to hear him .. heres the link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwiDbLfHnjI
Thank you Zafrin!
Love this combination a lot..perfect breakfast
OMG ! What a dish and the clicks… especially 2nd click, droplet of sambar 🙂
Thank you Sangeetha. Sambar Vadai is one of my favourites so I guess the pictures reflect that 🙂
looks good.. Yummy. I love both Sambar and Rasam Vada
Lovely clicks as always Nags!
mom's favorite…she loves it so much
i too enjoyed the photo esp the drops from the sambhar 🙂
as far as my experienced :
1. i generally add 2 tbsp of rice(raw) while soaking the urad dal ,to get the crispy vadai + it wll not absorb oil much
2. i generally much concern about the urad dal quality best one wll do wonders ! my exp
You are right Aparna Jeshkumar. Rice can be added to get crispiness. But for this quantity of urad dall, 2 tbsp of rice is bit more. 0ne tsp will do
Or
Instead of rice thur dall is good choice. For this quantity of urad dall. one tbsp of thur dall can be soaked alonf with urad dall. It gives good crispiness. I tried and it is true
Thank you prema!
Who will say no to this yummy sambar vadais, making me to feel hungry now