Vada / Vadai / Gaarelu

In Telugu there is a saying for Vada or Gaare “ Thinte gaarelu thinu … vinte Bharatham vinu.” Which means tht “Do either of the things … Listen to Bharatham or Eat Gaare.” They compared the taste of Vadas with the holy bharatham.

Any festival is not complete at my house without these vadas. We used to eat hot when my Mom used to prepare. I know only eating at that time. After marriage I didn’t made my husband’s favorite vada for 8 months. Now, for Pongal I made vadas and took them for a get together too.

Learnt From:

I discussed about vada with so many. But finally I learnt it from Vahrehvah.

As per my view Vada is very tough. Keeping that impression in mind … I have not even tried it for 8 months which is my husband’s favorite dish. Later I made a trail of it. Actually I have grinded the batter very tight without adding any water. I don’t know how to dip the batter in the oil to fry. So I made punugulu on that day with tht batter. When I was doing for the second time my husband told me how to dip the batter in the oil. But the taste was not good.

After that I came to know about this Vahrehvah site.. After watching that site again I made an attempt. He demonstrated in a very nice way. What he told about aeration has worked out for me. Vadas has come very soft and fluffy. My friend Kalyani told me to mix chopped onions, ginger, and coriander leaves. The taste is good. But still shape of the vada was not good.

In the forth trail when I made for Pongal gathering … I was able to dip the batter in his way. That made me happy. Now I am confident in making vadas. Click on this link to watch his video. Type "Medu Vada" in his 'Recipe Search'. Try making vadas after watching his video.

Makes: 32 Vadas

Ingredients:

Urad Dal --- 3 Cups (750 ml) (To make for 2 people 1 Cup is enough.)
Oil --- for deep fry
Onions --- 1 big
Chopped ginger --- 4 tblsn
Coriander leaves

Pre-Requisite:

Clean the soak urad dal in water for 4-6 hours. Generally I soak overnight if I am going to prepare in the morning.


Process:

Once again clean the urad dal which you soaked. Fill the soaked urad dal bowl with water.
In a blender add small amount like half a cup of soaked urad dal with your palms let the water come along with the dal.


Add enough salt to the dal.
Don’t add water to the blender. The water which has come along with the dal that much is enough.
Grind the dal to a coarse paste.
Transfer the grinded dal to another bowl. (If you have the habit of cleaning vessels with water before using … wipe the water off with a paper towel or neat kitchen towel.)
In the same manner grind rest of the soaked dal.


Heat oil for deep fry.


In the meanwhile, Pat the grinded dal with your palms to get aeration. I got this tip from Vahrehvah. Sanjay demonstrated very nicely. The aeration concept worked for my vadas which made them soft after cooking. It's better check the video link of him which will be very useful and easy for you in making vadas.
Chop ginger to very small fine pieces.
Chop onions and coriander leaves too.
Add chopped ones to the grinded dal. (don’t let the water come along with the chopped ones.)


Mix them well.


Take water in a bowl. Keep tht aside.
When the oil is at right hot … dip ur right palm in the water bowl. Take the grinded batter with ur palms. Toss the batter in air to make a smooth ball. Let the ball be on ur palms itself. Make a small hole at the center of the ball with ur thumb.
Reverse ur palms to the top of the heated oil. Drop the batter with the help of the thumb.
In the same manner drop enough vadas to the pan.


Fry them till golden brown.


Take the fried vadas with holes spatula. Keep them on a paper towel or strainer.


In a bowl place a paper towel. Arrange all the fried vadas. Again the top of the vadas place one more paper towel. Press the vadas gently. So tht the paper towels take the excess oil from the vadas.
Remove the tissue papers.
Have it with ginger chutney or pickle or with peanuts chutney.
Enjoy the taste of vadas.