Medu vada are crisp, fluffy & delicious donut shaped lentil fritters from South Indian Cuisine. Vada with coconut chutney or tiffin sambar is a popular breakfast relished in a lot of South Indian households & restaurants. Follow my step by step instructions with photos below to make the best medu vada. Once you learn to make these, I am sure you will ditch your favorite restaurant & make these often at home.
Vada
Vada are a kind of deep fried savory snack mostly made with lentils, spices and herbs. In Indian cuisine we make many kinds of vadas and sometimes we also make them with vegetables and even with flour. Masala vada, medu vada, maddur vada, batata vada, dahi vada are some of them.
About Medu Vada
Medu vada are traditional South Indian fritters made with urad dal (black lentils), spices and curry leaves. “Medu” is a Kannada word meaning “Soft” and “Vada” are “crispy Indian fritters”. So medu vada are essentially soft from inside yet crisp on the outside.
Known by different names such as Garelu in Telugu, uddina vade, medu vade in Kannada, ulundhu vadai in Tamil and uzhunnu vada in Malayalam, they are made and relished across the South Indian states.
Growing up, medu vada aka Garelu was a staple in our home as my mom would offer these to Goddess Lakshmi and Durga during Friday Pooja. We Telugu speaking people also make them for an offering during Varalakshmi vratam, Gouri puja, Diwali and Durga Navratri.
In fact our festivals are incomplete without making vada since we also serve them as a part of the festive meal. Depending on the region and family traditions various spices and herbs are added to the batter.
South Indian foods like masala dosa, idli, rava dosa, medu vada served with coconut chutney and sambar are hugely popular even in the restaurants across the world.
My recipe
My traditional recipe to make these medu vada comes from my mom and I have also shared all her tips and tricks to make them perfectly crispy, fluffy and delicious every time. Making perfectly crisp and fluffy vadas at home is easy if you follow the recipe without missing out the minute details I have mentioned in this post.
The recipe involves only three steps – soaking lentils, grinding them to make fluffy batter and lastly shaping small portions of the batter & frying. Traditionally medu vada batter is ground in a manual stone grinder but a lot of us also grind it in an electric mixer grinder/ blender or a wet grinder.
Making fluffy batter is the key to crisp and fluffy vadas. So you need a good strong and powerful blender that can grind your lentils really well to a fluffy texture. If you use a regular low watt grinder you may end up with hard and dense vadas and even more your blender may break down.
The basic medu vada is made with just urad dal, water and salt. To flavor them ingredients like crushed black pepper, green chilies, ginger, cumin seeds, curry leaves and onions are used. At home we do not add any other ingredients if making for Naivedyam. This is a tradition we have followed.
Other times my mom would add all those aromatic ingredients and sometimes onions were replaced with fresh shredded cabbage which really goes well in these fritters.
To make perfectly crisp and fluffy vadas do check out my faqs, pro tips and notes which I shared below.
More Vada recipes
Batata vada
Masala vada (chana dal vada)
Mixed dal vada
Sabudana vada
Alasanda vada
How to make medu vada (stepwise photos)
Preparation
1. Add 1 cup urad dal to a large bowl and wash it well rubbing with your hand. Rinse it well at least 3 to 4 times & drain the water. This removes the white powdery substance on the urad dal.
2. Add fresh water and soak it for at least 4 to 5 hrs. Soaking them for at least 5 hours makes the batter fluffy and increases in volume. But if you do not have so much time, you can soak for 3 hours but the texture is not the same. If using organic dal you can soak for 8 hours with good results. While the dal soaks, keep about 1 cup of water in the refrigerator to chill.
Make batter
3. Later discard the water completely from the dal & give a good rinse. Drain the water completely.
4. Add the dal to a grinder or blender jar along with 1/3 teaspoon salt.
5. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons ice cold water to start off. Blend for a short time about 25 to 30 seconds.
6. Next scrape the sides and the bottom to release the dal that’s stuck.
7. As and when needed sprinkle evenly about only 1 ½ teaspoon water each time. Whether you make in the wet grinder or blender, the process is same. Scrape off the sides and grind again. The batter will be coarse but must be thick. Sprinkle water as needed again.
8. Grind till the batter looks fluffy, thick, lightly aerated and white in color. (like you see in the picture). Ensure your blender does not become warm or hot while you grind as this will give a bitter taste.
Consistency of batter
9. Check if the batter is done correctly. Take a small bowl filled with water. Take little batter and form a ball, drop it in the water. If the consistency & texture of the batter is light, the batter floats well.
The batter will not float if the consistency is very thin. Read the notes below what to do if the batter becomes runny/thin.
10. Transfer the batter to a bowl, beat the batter with your hand in clock wise direction for 30 to 40 seconds. This makes the batter more fluffy and aerated. This is very important. You can skip this step if making the batter in wet grinder.
11. To make the hotel style medu vada, you can add a tiny pinch of baking soda, half teaspoon crushed pepper, 1 to 2 chopped green chilies, 1 tablespoon fine chopped ginger, 1 sprig curry leaves and 2 to 3 tbsps chopped onion or fresh coconut. Since I made these for the puja, I did not add any to half of the batter. To the other half I added everything else but not soda. Mix the batter well.
How to shape medu vada
12. On a medium flame, heat oil in a deep pan. Ensure there is enough oil in the kadai so your medu vada floats and fries well.
13. Method 1: Dip your fingers in water (water should not be dripping from your fingers).
14. Take small portions of this batter to your fingers. Make a ball.
15. Slightly flatten the ball with your thumb. Next make a hole in the center. If the batter sticks, dip your thumb in water. If you are new to making medu vada, follow the second method below or practice this a few times before frying. I always make these following the second method.
16. Before sliding the medu vada to the oil, ensure it is hot enough. To check, drop a small portion of batter to it. The batter must rise without browning a lot. This is the right temperature.
17. Method 2: Place the ball on a greased sheet or greased parchment paper. Flatten it slightly and make a hole in the center.
18. Once the oil is hot enough, ensure the flame is to medium. Dip your fingers in water. Please ensure there is no excess water dripping from your hand. Lift the side or corner part of the sheet with your left hand and transfer the medu vada on to your fingers (right hand).
19. Face your palm towards the oil, drop in the hot oil by shaking your fingers gently. Take care. Drop these just by shaking your fingers. Gently slide a few.
20. Fry medu vada on a medium flame till they turn golden & crisp. Towards the end if you like them deep golden, fry them on a slightly higher flame for 2 mins.
21. When done, remove them to a colander. Shape and fry medu vadas in batches till all the batter is used up.
We offer garelu to the Goddess first. Serve medu vada with coconut chutney & tiffin sambar. Here I have the picture of both – plain & with spices & onions.
We offer only the plain ones during pooja.
Faqs
Like any other deep fried foods, vada will become soft and lose their crispness as they cool down. To keep them crisp for longer, place a cooling rack over a baking tray and pop it in the oven. Preheat your oven with keep warm settings (80 C to 100 C or 175 F to 200 F) for atleast 15 mins, then place the hot fried vadas over the cooling rack. Continue to move them to the oven as you fry.
You can simply refry them in hot oil Or reheat to crisp them in an preheated oven at 180 C or 360 C for 3 to 4 minutes or until crisp.
If the oil is not hot enough or if the urad dal is over soaked, vada can absorb lot of oil. Also if the lentils are ground too long in a wet grinder, the batter can become feather light and vadas can soak up a lot of oil. So ensure you don’t oversoak the lentils, grind them just until light and fry the vada in hot oil.
Soaking the lentils well for at least 4 hours is very important. Under soaked lentils won’t yield a fluffy batter and the vadas turn out dense and hard. Not using enough water while grinding and not aerating the batter enough can also make hard vada. Lastly aged lentils that have been in the shelf for a long time do not make fluffy batter so use lentils that are fresh. Avoid using lentils that have picked up an yellow shade.
Frying vadas in extremely hot oil will brown the vadas from outside but won’t cook them inside. So always ensure the oil is hot enough but not smoking hot. Also fry them on a medium flame until crisp, golden and cooked through.
Can I make vada batter without wet grinder?
In hotels & restaurants, medu vada batter is made in wet grinder. This gives the best fluffy texture from inside and crispy texture outside. Most traditional South Indian households too use a wet grinder to make the batter.
But every time I make garelu I use my mixer grinder. I have a very large wet grinder so I rarely use that for grinding. We can make fluffy medu vada even without a wet grinder.
Pro tips & notes
- Firstly do not let the mixer-grinder or the batter heat up while grinding. Warm or hot batter makes hard medu vada. Sometimes they may even taste bitter. So always use ice cold water to grind the lentils.
- If the batter becomes slightly runny, you can mix 1 to 2 tbsps rice flour (at room temperature).Then beat it well to aerate. If the batter turns to be runny still, I suggest you to make punugulu or urad dal bonda.
- Other alternates are to use fine powdered poha (attukulu). Poha works great to soak up excess moisture in the runny batter.
- If you are a beginner make the medu vada on a damp cloth, plastic sheet or cling flim and then transfer to the hot oil. Do not make it in your hand or fingers.
- Lastly adding salt later to the batter can thin it down, so make sure you add while grinding.
- Use only very little ice cold water to grind the batter. Using not more than 1 1/2 tsp. at one time, which literally means you have to sprinkle the water.
- If using organic urad dal, you can soak it for 8 hours.
Related Recipes
Recipe card
Vada recipe | Medu vada
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1 cup urad dal (or skinned black gram)
- ⅓ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- Ice cold water
- Oil for deep frying
Optional (skip if making for Naivedyam)
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon pepper corn (crushed coarsely)
- 2 to 3 green chilies (chopped)
- 4 tablespoon onions (chopped) (1 small)
- 1 sprig curry leaves (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 teaspoon ginger fine grated
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash dal several times and soak in lot of water for at least 4 to 5 hrs.
- Drain the water completely and transfer the dal to a mixer grinder jar. If you have a wet grinder, you can use it.
- Sprinkle 3 tablespoons water. Next add salt and start grinding.
- Next scrape off the sides and then grind again. Whenever needed sprinkle only as much as 1 ½ tsps. Ice cold water evenly.
- Again continue to grind to a coarse thick batter. Ensure your grinder does not become hot.
- Sprinkle water. Grind again till the batter looks fluffy and white.
- Transfer this to a bowl. Aerate the batter by beating it with your hand in a clockwise direction for 30 to 60 seconds.
- Test the batter if it is aerated well. Drop a small batter ball in bowl full of water. The ball has to float meaning it is light. This is needed to get fluffy medu vada.
- If the batter doesn’t float well, means either the batter is runny or is not aerated well. Read the notes below to know what to do with runny batter.
- If the batter is in right consistency still it is not floating well. Then beat the batter once more.
- Add crushed pepper, cumin, ginger,scurry leaves, green chilies and onions. Mix everything well.
How to make medu vada
- Heat oil in a deep heavy bottom kadai or pan on a medium heat till hot enough.
- Drop a small amount of batter to check if the oil is hot. The batter raises if the oil is hot enough.
- Dip your fingers in water or oil to moisten your fingers. Water should not be dripping.
- Take small portions of batter. Shape to a ball, slightly flatten with thumb.
- Dip the thumb in water, again no dripping water. Make a hole in the center.
- Gently slide the vada in the hot oil by gently shaking off the fingers.
- Or place the ball on a greased sheet. Flatten it slightly and make a hole in the centre.
- If the oil becomes too hot, regulate the flame to medium.
- Moisten your fingers again. Lift the corner part of the sheet and transfer the vada on to your fingers. Then drop it just by shaking your fingers.
- Fry medu vada till they turn golden on both sides.
- Make them and fry them in batches till you use up all the batter. In between every batch, wait till the oil heats up, if not hot.
- Serve medu vada with coconut chutney or tiffin sambar.
Notes
- Vada recipe is not for beginners. To try this recipe you must know atleast the basics of deep frying – how to manage deep frying.
- Take care not to use too much water to moisten your fingers. Any water droplets in the oil can cause hot splashes of oil.
- You can also use oil instead of water to grease your fingers before you shape the vadas.
- Sliding vada to oil that is not hot enough can cause splatters.
- The amount of water to use for batter changes with the soaking time and the kind of dal. 6 to 7 tbps water is what I use for organic dal that’s soaked for 5 hours.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Thank you for the recipe. Tried making vada at home and they turned out very good.
Glad to know Kavitha
Thank you so much
Loved the recipe. Wada turned very soft. The wadas were not crispy though. How do you achieve soft yet crispy wada. Another problem was they turned hard when I boiled them in Sambhaar for a few mins to make wada sambhaar. Other than that excellent recipe
Hi Chitra,
I have mentioned all the tips in the post. Please read them again. Cut down the soaking time and check if that works better for you. I soak the hot vadas in hot very runny sambar first. You should not boil them. I will update the tips for vada sambar in the post soon.
Your recipe looks good, wanted to try it. I had a question. Do I grind the batter completely smooth or a little coarse?
Not smooth and not coarse. Can’t get smooth batter with the little amount of water we add. If you try to blend smooth your mixer may break down.
Thanks Swami, So for 2 cups Udad approximately how much water do you suggest? Is 1/2 cup ok? Can you grind in food processor?
Hi Minal
I have mentioned about water in the recipe notes. Follow that. The amount of water to use depends on the kind of dal, age of dal and even the soaking time. A food processor won’t work for medu vada.
However if you are keen you can try these bondas with the same batter. In this case food processor may work.
Helpful instructions.Tried it and it was good. Thank you
Welcome!
will try now, have done it before…batter was absorbing too much oil, rice flour may help..
Hi Angela
If the lentils are soaked too long they will absorb more oil. Also do not over blend or aerate the batter too long.
Hello, I am a big fan of your recipes! I am going to prepare these Vada in afternoon for a dinner get together for which I need to take them over to a friends house. How can I warm them up before serving, would it be possible in a microwave and if so how long ?
Hello Gurleen,
Thank you. These are best served straight after frying. Reheating in oven or air fryer is good. I don’t think microwave works. Another option is to refry them. Hope this helps.
Hello Swasthi
I followed your instructions to the last letter. The only change I made was: I have used skinned ‘minapappu’, soaked overnight and removed all the skins before grinding. I used ice water and the batter ground really fine and fluffy. I started disliking the “de-husked” minapappu because it is tasting bitter after grinding. So as far as possible I have been using husked minapappu. Anyway, my question to you is: the vadas soaked too much of oil. The oil temperature was not cold or too hot. Just right (I think). Vadas all came out very soft and fluffy after frying. Still they were all too soggy with oil. I wonder if you can tell me what I am doing wrong here. Appreciate your input. Thanks and keep up the great work you are doing.
Hello Rom garu,
There are 3 reasons for vadas soaking up oil
1.Over grinding dal – This can happen if using wet grinder
2.batter consistency – loose batter . If you are able to shape them well then it means the consistency is fine.
3.oversoaking dal.
During the last few months I have made these a lot of times experimenting different soaking timings. 4 to 5 hours is the best. But organic dal gave better results with 8 hours of soaking. Not longer. I have felt every brand of dal is different.
Next time try soaking just for 4 to 5 hours.
Hope this helps
Swasti
Thanks for your detailed analysis. I remember my mother used soak the lentils around 4-5 hrs. Next time I will not soak overnight. You are right – I may have over ground the lentils. At the end the batter came out like a ball of cotton, very soft and very light. I was in fact very happy the batter came out nice and fluffy. Looks like there is a lot of learning curve in the preparation of this dish. Thanks very much for your input.
Rom garu,
In wet grinder we grind it just until it is fluffy and slightly light in color. The batter will be still coarse at that stage. Your batter got aerated more than required so it soaked up the oil. I think next time you will get it right.
Just want to say that your recipes are really great. I’ve tried a few and loved them all. I’m slowly working through your entire collection:-)
The vada’s i made were light and fluffy and crisp on the outside although i just made ball shapes rather than rings as it was easier.
I saved the batter in the fridge and the next day’s batch had a slight bitterness with a smell of raw lentils. Do you think this is just that it’s a day old or something in the making process? Or is it normal?
Thanks again!
Hi,
Thank you so much! Yes making them in ball shape is much easier and tastes the same. Actually a lot of people store the batter for as long as 4 to 5 days in the fridge. They just taste the same and good. It has happened with me as well a few times and I feel the bitter taste comes if the batter becomes warm or hot while grinding. Also blending a lot without adding sufficient water in the first few steps as can make it bitter. The other reason can be old dal (aged dal) that has been lying in the stores for long. Also try choosing dal that is white in color without yellow specks on it. Hope these help.
Thank you 🙂
Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou.
I have tried it few times earlier before you posted this recipe and I never got it right and today followed your recipe step by step and had wonderful medu vada for breakfast. Feelw so happy and satisfied to eat the tasty medu vada thanks to you. Your all notes come in so handy that it is of great help!
Welcome Suhasini
You are most welcome! That was a great try! Thanks for sharing the pictures. Glad the recipe helped.
🙂
Thanks swasthi….awesome recipe..
You are welcome!
Hi, I am a big fan of your recipes. Keep up the good work! I really appreciate all the effort you take to make these recipes so detailed.
Yesterday I tried medu vada and wanted to use minimum water because I wanted to be able make it like a doughnut and I’ve failed in the past because of the dough being runny. But since I’m using normal blender big jar, it was very difficult and final batter was grainy. So although I could make a good shape I think it was not aerated enough and a bit hard and chewy to my taste. Please advise
Hi Sandra
Thank you! Normal blender jars are likely to break down when you try to make fluffy vada batter. Please try with a Indian steel mixer/grinder. These are strong enough and made to withstand heavy grinding required for preparing Indian food.
Looks like the batter did not grind yet so they turned hard and chewy. Hope this helps.
Followed this receipe step by step also used new dal but vadas became hard and chewy so i added a bit soda but it still was chewy.??What went wrong please guide
Hi Neepa,
Chewy texture in vadas means the batter is not ground correctly. I feel it needs more water & more grinding. If it is newly harvested urad dal, it will need more water. After blending, the batter should be light, fluffy and white in color. Soda will not help if the batter is not ground correctly. I think you should try a few more times to get them right. Next time you can send me the picture of batter after grinding. I can guide you. Hope this helps
I tried them today….lovely!!!
Thank you so much for your recipes.
Greetings from Germany
Hello Andrea
You are welcome! Great to hear!
Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
🙂
I follow all Swathis recipes I like the way it is explained step by step Simple easy to follow
They come out well
Thank you so much Jyothi
So happy to know!
Hi. I tried your Medu Vada recipe & used a wet grinder . The recipe is perfect . I got perfect vadas with holes in the centre, light, fluffy and deliciously golden in colour.
Added crushed pepper corns, cut curry leaves & thinly chopped coconut pieces. It was amazing. Thanks a bunch for sharing the recipe.
Hi Sailakshmi
You are welcome. Happy to know they turned out good. Oven that you added all of them. Thanks much for comment.
🙂
Hi swasthi,
I have made vadas couple of times before, but never managed to get the perfect round shape with hope. I followed your recipe to T and got the perfect vadas I always wanted to make. It stayed crispy even after couple of hours. Thank you so much for this wonderful detailed recipe. I have also tried your other recipes and am a big fan of your food blog.
I meant “perfect round shape with hole”.. autocorrect changed it to hope!!
Hi Sukanya
You are welcome! So glad to know they turned out good. Thank you so much for leaving a comment.
🙂
Tried this recipes. The vadas were yummy. I didn’t make them doughnut shaped but instead round balls of medium size. Also skipped the onion to make it a jain recipe. Everyone loved them. Thank you so much for this recipe.
Glad to know Juhi
Thanks for leaving a comment
Medu vadas turned out delicious after following your recipe and the tip of adding rice flour and checking if the batter floats in water. Found it difficult to maintain the shape though. Thank you ?
Can I use split urid dal if I don’t have regular urid?
Also can I bake these in a donut pan
Hi Hita
For best results use whole urad dal
I haven’t tried in a donut pan
Clear and easy to follow recipes!! Thank you so much for all of the delicious recipes,
Hello. It came out great! Is there anything I can do to make it more crisp? Also, can the dal and be soaked overnight? Thanks!!
Hello Sandya,
Glad to know. Lesser soaking (about 4 hours) & adding lesser water makes them more crisp. We usually don’t soak overnight.