Medu Vada, Mumbai Roadside Recipe
by Tarla Dalal
Mumbai roadside medu vada recipe | Step by Step medu vada recipe | South Indian medu vada breakfast | with 20 amazing images.
Mumbai roadside medu vada is a highly popular street food and we show you how to make Step by Step medu vada recipe.
This South Indian delicacy has become an integral part of Mumbai Street Food .
No dosa stall is complete without piping hot deep-fried vadas. Just ask, and can get them submerged in sambar. The idli-vada combination is a favourite for breakfast!
To make Mumbai roadside medu vada, urad dal is soaked, drained and then spices added and blended to make a smooth batter. Then small portions of urad dal vada are deep fried.
Tips to make the Mumbai roadside medu vada recipe. 1. Don’t grind the batter for too long at once as it will make the batter more like a paste and heat up the grinder resulting into hard vadas. Grind it for few seconds, stop and then grind it again for few seconds. Follow this method to grind the batter. 2. After grinding, beat the medu vada batter using your hand for 8-10 minutes in one direction. This process incorporates air which makes the vada light and fluffy. To check if the batter is fluffy enough or no, drop a portion of batter in a bowl filled with water and if it floats on the surface it means that batter is perfectly fluffy.
Besides idlis and vadas try these popular Mumbai street food dosas like Jini Dosa, Schezuan Chopsuey Dosa, Paneer Chilly Dosa and Mysore Masala Dosa.
Enjoy Mumbai roadside medu vada recipe | Step by Step medu vada recipe | South Indian medu vada breakfast | with detailed step by step photos below.
Medu Vada, Mumbai Roadside Recipe recipe - How to make Medu Vada, Mumbai Roadside Recipe
Preparation Time: Cooking Time: Total Time:
Makes 4 plates
Medu Vada
1 cup urad dal (split black lentils)
5 to 6 black peppercorns (kalimirch)
8 to 10 curry leaves (kadi patta)
1 tsp roughly chopped ginger (adrak)
1 tsp finely chopped green chillies
salt to taste
oil for deep-frying
For Serving With Medu Vada
coconut chutney
green garlic chutney
sambhar
For medu vada
- For medu vada
- Clean, wash and soak the urad dal in enough water for atleast 2 hours.
- Drain, add the peppercorns, curry leaves and ginger and blend in a mixer to a smooth batter, adding little water.
- Add the green chillies and salt, mix well and keep aside.
- Wet your fingers, take some batter and make a hole in the centre using your thumb.
- Slip the vada gently into the hot oil and deep-fry on a medium flame till it turns golden brown in colour from all the sides.
- Repeat with the remaining batter to make 7 more {span class="bold1"}medu vadas{/span}. Drain on absorbent paper.
- Place 2 {span class="bold1"}medu vadas{/span} on a plate and serve immediately with coconut chutney, green garlic chutney and sambhar.
- Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 3 more plates of {span class="bold1"}medu vada{/span}.
Like Medu Vada
- Like Mumbai roadside medu vada recipe | Step by Step medu vada recipe | South Indian medu vada breakfast | Then see our collection of Mumbai street food. Street food is extremely popular in Mumbai, mainly because you can have a wholesome meal at half the price of any comparable dish in a restaurant. Be it breakfast, snacks or even junk food, these can be purchased on any foot path, beach-side or road corner. See some of the most popular street foods below.
What are Vadas?
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What are Vadas? Think South Indian snack, and Vada is the first option that comes to mind. A crispy, golden outer layer slowly giving way to a soft and fluffy core, this deep-fried snack is a necessary part of any traditional South Indian breakfast spread, and also a much-loved accompaniment to evening tea or coffee. Being so tasty and popular it has gained its share of fame in India and abroad. Be it a local bakery or tea-shop, a restaurant in Manali, or an Indian wedding in Pittsburg, you can expect to find vadas served there!
- There are different types of vadas, but the most famous one is made of urad batter. Many vadas require you to soak and grind the ingredients, although generally there is no fermentation required. The consistency of the batter will also vary. While the Urad Dal Vada requires a smooth batter, the Chana Dal Vada or famous Masala Vada requires a coarse grind.
- There are other quick options like the Rava Vada, which are made by just mixing the ingredients and deep-frying. Picking a particular vada batter as the base, you can improvise by adding veggies and greens to it. Popular additions are chopped onions, cabbage, amaranth and banana flower.
- Other parts of India have their own Vada recipes too, such as the Sabudana Vada and Batata Vada of Maharashtra. The Batata Vada is used to make the all-time favourite Vada Pav, which practically needs no introduction to anybody.
- In Punjab and other parts of North India, you will find small lentil dumplings, similar to Urad Vada, being used to make chaats like the Dahi Bhalla or Bhalla Papdi.
Recipe Notes for perfect medu vada
- Don’t grind the batter for too long at once as it will make the batter more like a paste and heat up the grinder resulting into hard vadas. Grind it for few seconds, stop and then grind it again for few seconds. Follow this method to grind the batter.
- Preferably, use cold water while grinding the medu vada batter.
- If you have authentic grinding stone or wet grinder then you can churn the batter in the traditional fashion.
- Once the batter is ground, prepare the vada immediately and do not leave it to ferment.
- If you are preparing vada after some time then do not add salt to the batter. Salt makes batter watery if you keep for long time. So, add salt just before preparing the medu vada.
- After grinding, beat the medu vada batter using your hand for 8-10 minutes in one direction. This process incorporates air which makes the vada light and fluffy. To check if the batter is fluffy enough or no, drop a portion of batter in a bowl filled with water and if it floats on the surface it means that batter is perfectly fluffy. Also, if you invert the bowl, the batter won’t fall. This shows it has been well made.
- If batter is too watery and not holding shape then add few tablespoons of rice flour or semolina. It will make the batter thick and the vada will also turn crispy.
- If you are a beginner and find it difficult to shape vadas on your palm, you can use a greased plastic sheet or a banana leaf to shape the vadas. Place a portion of the vada on it, give a round shape and make a hole in the center of vada. Take the vada gently from plastic sheet into the wet palm, add it to the oil and deep fry it.
Method for Mumbai Medu Vada
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For making the medu vada batter, clean and wash the urad dal 2-3 times in water. Soak it in enough water for atleast 2 hours. If you soak for less time, then the medu vada will turn out hard. 2-3 hours of soaking is ideal for urad dal. More than that or overnight soaking is not required and causes dal to soak more water unnecessarily. Cover with a lid and keep aside.
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Drain the urad dal. The urad dal will almost double in volume and become soft.
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Transfer the soaked urad dal to a mixer jar.
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Add the green chillies.
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Add the peppercorns.
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Add the curry leaves.
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Add the ginger.
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Adding approx. ½ cup water.
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Blend in the mixer to a smooth batter, Don’t add too much water while grinding else the batter will turn watery and it will be difficult to shape the medhu vadai.
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Once done, remove the batter in a bowl. The medu vada batter should have a thick consistency and will look like this.
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Add the onions, this is optional but better to add as it taste great.
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Add the salt Mix well using a spoon.
- Divide the ulundu vadai mixture into 14 equal portions. Keep aside.
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Wet your hand. Dipping your hands in water helps in shaping the medu vada nicely.
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Take a portion of the medu vada mixture in your hand.
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Press it gently and make thick round shaped vada. Make a hole in the centre with your thumb.
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For frying the South-Indian medu vada, heat the oil in a kadhai. Upturn your hand and drop the ulundu vadai in oil very carefully.
- Deep fry 3-4 Mumbai roadside medu vada | South Indian medu vada breakfast | at a time.
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Flip and cook the urad dal vada till both sides turn golden brown in colour on a medium flame. Do not fry on high flame they will give you the golden colour but they will be raw from inside. And do not fry on low heat they will absorb a lot of oil. Drain the garelu vada on an absorbent paper.
- Repeat with the remaining batter to make more medu wadas.
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Serve the hotel style medu vadas hot with fried coconut chutney and sambhar.
- Our website has many more traditional vada recipe which can be enjoyed as evening snacks or breakfast.
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In mumbai, Medu vada also happes to be a popular street food. Its eaten all day, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Medu vada is quick fulfilling meal on the go for many mumbaikars. This is how the medu vada is packed when asked for a takeaway.
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When opened the parcel has two bags of chutney and sambar alongside the medu vada.
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This is how the Mumbai roadside medu vada recipe is served on the streets of mumbai, fresh crisp medu vadai with piping hot sambar and dash of coconut chutney.
| Energy | 182 cal |
| Protein | 12.6 g |
| Carbohydrates | 31.3 g |
| Fiber | 6.1 g |
| Fat | 0.7 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Vitamin A | 19.9 mcg |
| Vitamin B1 | 0.2 mg |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.1 mg |
| Vitamin B3 | 1 mg |
| Vitamin C | 0 mg |
| Folic Acid | 69.3 mcg |
| Calcium | 80.8 mg |
| Iron | 2 mg |
| Magnesium | 68.2 mg |
| Phosphorus | 202.1 mg |
| Sodium | 20.9 mg |
| Potassium | 420 mg |
| Zinc | 1.6 mg |
Mmmhh!!
Its quite a challenge for a novice to make medu vadas but i managed to do a decent job thanks to this wonderful recipe! Its soft, scrumptious and really delicious!