Urad dal vada (medu vada)
Preparation Time
15 minutes
Cooking Time
25 minutes
Difficulty Level
moderate
Meal Type
Evening Snack
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- White urad split (urad dal)
About This Recipe
Medu vada is the South Indian vada with a hole in the middle: the outside fries crisp while the inside stays light and airy, and the hole helps the vada cook through evenly. The batter is nothing but urad dal ground thick with a little water and beaten full of air; no leavening is added.
How much urad dal for vada: 1 cup (200 g) of white urad split makes 8 vadas, so count on half a cup for four. Soak the dal overnight, about 12 hours; the long soak softens it so the grind turns light and airy. Grind with small splashes of water into a stiff paste that holds its shape, season it, and fry in hot oil. For the dal behind the numbers, the urad dal hub has the per 100 g values.
Drain the vadas well on paper after frying so the surface stays crisp, and do not pile them while hot. The same vadas soaked in spiced curd become dahi vada. Soaking details are in our guide to how to soak urad dal.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Batter
- White urad split (urad dal) — 1 cup
- Water for grinding — 3/4 cup
- Green chillies — 2 nos
- Ginger — 1 inch
- Curry leaves (fresh, or a few dried) — 10 leaves
- Black peppercorns — 1/2 tsp
- Salt — 1 tsp
For frying
- Groundnut oil for deep frying (2 tbsp of it is absorbed) — 500 ml
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Serving Suggestions
Serve the vadas hot with coconut chutney and a small bowl of sambar for dipping. For breakfast, two vadas with sambar and a cup of filter coffee make a full plate. A sprinkle of podi over the warm vadas adds heat, and leftover vadas can be dropped into hot sambar to soften.
Tips for Cooking Urad dal vada (medu vada)
Grind the dal with as little water as it will take; a runny batter spreads in the oil instead of puffing. Beat the ground paste with your hand for a few minutes, and the vadas will rise light even without soda. Slip each vada into the oil at the edge of the kadai, away from you, and fry only as many as the pan holds without touching.
Chef’s Note
Shape the vadas with wet hands: the batter will not stick, and the hole stays open. The oil is ready when a pinch of batter rises at once and sizzles; too cool, and the vadas drink oil. Two vadas come to about 228 kcal with 11.5 g of protein and 6.0 g of fibre, roughly 114 kcal per vada, most of the calories from the urad dal and the oil the frying picks up.
Per serving (approx.): 228 kcal, protein 12 g, carbs 26 g, fat 8.3 g, fibre 6 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
May 12, 2026
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Difficulty Level
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