Name: Medu vada (Deep-fried black lentil patties)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 3 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: Makes about 18 doughnuts; serves 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 curry leaf sprig, leaves finely chopped; approximately 1 litre (35 fl oz/4 cups) vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 1 tablespoon fresh Ginger paste or ginger juice; 2 teaspoons crushed garlic, fried in virgin coconut oil until golden brown; 200 g (7 oz/1 cup) dried black lentils (urad dhal); Green coconut chutney, Nepalese tomato achar or Aam kasundi, to serve; ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed; ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda); 1 Indian green chilli, chopped very finely with the seeds; 2 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves

Preparation info

Makes about 18 doughnuts; serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
25 min

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

About

I know these very tasty savoury doughnuts as ulundu vadai. They are slightly fermented and spiced, and served in tea shops around Sri Lanka. Some people also make these with yellow lentils, but this classic recipe uses unskinned black ones (urad dhal).

Although they can be a bit heavy, these patties are a wonderful hot snack. The secret to the perfect patty comes down to the amount of liquid. Too wet and it will fall apart in the fryer, and not moist enough means it will be dry.