Medhu Vadai (Urad Dal Vadas)

We have a tradition.  Every time we go to Chennai, the morning after we land, my mom makes idli or dosa for breakfast, and we get medhu vadais from the Udipi restaurant a couple of doors away from our apartment complex. 

Medhu Vadai (Urad Dal Vadas)

This is a small restaurant, bustling with customers at 6:30 a.m.  There is a pot in the corner, with steaming milk, ready to be mixed with decoction for filter coffee, mounds of hot vadais and steaming idlis, a big stainless steel bucket with pongal – dripping with ghee, buckets of sambar, coconut chutney, onion-tomato chutney, and masala for dosas, all visible behind the counter.  The waiters have banana leaves, newspaper, and twine – ready to wrap up any order for parcel (take-out) that comes their way.  My husband likes pongal from here too – so sometimes I get pongal and vadai for him.   But, there is nothing that comes close to idli, vadai, sambar, and chutney for breakfast – at least not for me.

Though I don’t make these vadais for breakfast here, I make them for a lot of festivals and parties.  These are really simple to make – the most basic recipe has only four ingredients.  The trick is to be able to grind the batter without using too much water.  A lot of people add more water than necessary and so end up with oily vadais.  Since I use a wet grinder to make the batter, I use very less water.  My batter ends up being really thick, and my vadais come out really crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  As you can see, they are not oily at all.  See note below, if you don't have a grinder.

Here is what you need:

(to make about 20 - 24 vadais)

• 2 cups whole urad dal without skin
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp. jeera
• 2 tsp. whole black pepper
• oil for deep frying

Optional: curry leaves, chopped green chilies, minced ginger, chopped onions

Here is how I made it:

1. Wash and soak the urad dal for a couple of hours.
2. Grind to a smooth paste without adding too much water.  I probably add less than a quarter cup of water to make the batter.
3. Heat oil for deep-frying.  Once the oil is hot, reduce heat to medium so that the vadais cook evenly.
4. Add the salt, jeera, and pepper to the batter.  If you are using any of the optional items, add those too.  Mix well.
5. Keep a bowl of water next to you. 
6. I use a sandwich- size ziploc bag to shape the vadais. Wet your hand as well as the ziploc bag.
7. Take some batter (about the size of a big lime) in you hand and put it on the Ziploc bag. 
8. Shape it like a donut with a hole in the middle.
9. Drop this gently into the hot oil.  You can fry a few vadais at a time.  Turn the vadais over gently a couple of times till they turn golden brown.
10. Drain them on some paper towels.
11. Repeat till all the batter is done.

Serve hot with chutney or sambar and idlis, or as part of a meal.

Note:  If you don't have a grinder, and need to use a blender to make the batter, you will need to use a little more water.  In that case, add a little semolina to the batter, after you grind it, to make the vadais.

Soft Idlis

A lot of people who grow up in southern India take idlis for granted.  I probably did too, but I loved them – especially idlis that have been coated with molagai podi.  My mom used to pack these for lunch and my friends and I would devour them way before lunch time.

It was only when I moved to the U.S., that I appreciated the soft idlis that I used to eat back home.  With only an Oster blender in my kitchen, it was really difficult to get the perfect idli batter.  Also Colorado winters are really cold and getting the batter to ferment was a big deal.  I used to try warming up the oven before putting the batter in, leaving the oven light on, and even wrapping the container with the batter in a shawl to keep it warm.  Who knew that getting the perfect idli batter would be so difficult?

Once we moved into a house, one of my first purchases was a wet grinder.  I still did not have too much space, so bought the smallest Ultra available online, and have been using it ever since.  Apart from making soft idlis, I have also been able to make almost perfect medhu vadas since I bought the grinder.

There are as many idli batter recipes as there are South Indian households.  I know people who use a 3:1 ratio, 2:1 ratio, 5:1 ratio and various other options in between for their rice to urad dal proportion.  I have a friend who will steam the raw rice (without water) to make it into pseudo-parboiled rice before soaking it for the batter.  I know people who add beaten rice or even cooked rice to the batter to make soft idlis.  

Some things to remember - the dal needs to be really smooth and fluffy after grinding.  Also, the amount of water - or the consistency of the batter is important, if it is too watery, the idlis might be flat and if it is too thick, you may end up with hard idlis.  Mix the batter well after fermenting, before making the idlis.

Here is my recipe.

Here is what you need:

 (makes about 40 idlis)

• 2 cups raw rice (I use Sona Masoori - but any regular rice should do)
• 2 cups idli rice
• 1 cup whole urad dal, without skin
• 1 tsp. methi seeds
• salt to taste

Here is how I made it:

1. Wash the two types of rice together in several changes of water.
2. Wash the dal and methi seeds also in several changes of water.
3. Soak them separately for at least 4 hours.
4. I use my Ultra Pride wet grinder to make my batter.  Add a little bit of water (about 1 cup) to the grinder and start it.  Add the urad dal with methi seeds.  Grind it to a smooth, fluffy paste.  You may need to add more water if the batter is getting too thick.
5. You will also need to keep scraping the batter from the sides of the grinder, to make sure that it is all uniformly smooth and fluffy. It takes about 20 minutes for my dal to grind well.
6. Remove the urad dal paste into a big bowl.
7. Now add more water (another cup) to the grinder and add the rice to it.  The rice gets done much faster than the dal (probably 10 - 12 minutes).  When you have a mixture that is not totally smooth, but is not coarse either, stop the grinder.
8. Remove this and add it to the urad dal batter.
9. Add a tiny bit of water to the grinder to clean the sides and pour this also into the bowl.
10. Add salt to the batter and mix it well with your hand.  My mom says that the heat from your hand starts the fermentation process.
11. Cover the batter and leave it in a warm place overnight.  I leave it in my oven (no heat or light).
12. Your idli batter will be nice and bubbly and ready for you in the morning.

To make idlis:

1. Mix the batter thoroughly.
2. Grease idli molds with either nonstick spray or oil.
3. Spoon a small ladleful of batter into each mold (so that the mold is 3/4 full).
4. Add a little bit of water to the bottom of a pressure cooker or steamer.  Place the idli molds in the cooker/steamer and steam for about 15 minutes without the pressure building (with the weight off or in the steam release position).
5. Remove the lid and let the idlis rest for about 5 minutes.  Remove them from the mold with a wet spatula or spoon.

Serve steaming hot with chutney, molaga podi, or sambar.

Note:  If you are making this for a large party, place a wet cloth or paper towel on the bottom of the serving  bowl, place the idlis in it, and cover them also with a moist paper towel, so that they don't dry out.  When you are ready to serve, warm it up in the microwave, covered with a moist towel.

Banana Bread

We always have bananas in our house.  My husband and older son eat them for breakfast.  You already know my take on eating anything sweet at breakfast time, and my younger son doesn’t care too much for them.

Occasionally, I end up having over ripe bananas that no one wants to eat – and I don’t blame them.  So I end up making banana bread.  The thing with baking sweet breads in your house is that the whole house smells divine.  As soon as the kids enter the house, they want to know what’s cooking.

Banana bread

Once the bread comes out of the oven, it gets devoured pretty quickly too.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup oil
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped
• nonstick spray to grease the pans

 

Here’s how I make it:

Banana bread

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix the eggs, oil, and bananas.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Fold in the walnuts
6. Pour batter into greased two loaf pans and bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Let it cool a bit, then cut it into slices and enjoy!