Most people are familiar with the vada-sambar/medhu vada/mendhu vada/vadais. Typically those are made with Urad dal. Now here is one that is not too common, the Vadai made of Black Urad dal! Yes, you heard that right….It is not very common and mostly made in temples as a special offering to the god Hanuman. Usually, it is flattened and fried till crisp, but I decided to make them in the usual shape and made mini vadais. It may be an acquired taste, but disappoint it does not for sure 🙂 The flavor comes from the dal and black pepper and is completely sans red chilies which are used in the medhu vadais. And yes, lots of hing!!
I made these and then had some batter left over…..transformed that into vadis and introduced them in a new avatar in a chana dal-vadi ki subzi!
Cook and see!
BLACK VADAIS
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup whole Black Urad dal
- Handful of White Urad dal
- 3 heaped tbsp Black pepper
- 1.5 tbsp Hing
- 10 Curry leaves (fresh)
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
Instructions
Add 1/2 cup of whole Black Urad Dal and a handful of white urad dal to a bowl and wash them well.
Add enough water to soak them fully. Allow the lentils to soak overnight or for about 3 hours or so till they get really swollen and soft.
Add 3 tbsp of black pepper to the blender and the drained soaked lentils and blend them to a coarse mixture with very little water.
Take the mixture out into a bowl, add salt to taste and 1.5 tbsp of hing.
Tear up 10 curry leaves into the bowl and give the mixture a good mix.
Heat up oil (any that you use) for frying and flatten the batter, create a hole in the center and fry the vadais till they are crisp and enjoy while they are hot!
