TranslateMedhu vadai is the doughnut-shaped lentil fritter that completes a Tamil breakfast plate. Soaked urad dal is ground to a fluffy paste, seasoned with pepper, curry leaves and ginger, shaped by hand with a hole in the centre and fried until crisp outside and airy within. It is eaten with sambar and chutney, dunked in curd, or offered as garland-strung prasadam at temples.
Type
Vegetarian
Meal occasion
Breakfast, evening tiffin, temple offering
Region
Statewide
Key ingredients
Urad dal, black pepper, curry leaves, ginger, green chilli, oil
Urad dal is soaked for a few hours and ground with very little water into a thick, aerated batter. Crushed pepper, chopped ginger, green chilli and curry leaves are mixed in by hand. The batter is patted into a disc on a wet palm, a hole is pressed in the centre, and it slides into hot oil.
The crust is crisp and golden, the interior soft and slightly spongy, with sharp bursts of pepper and curry leaf.
Medhu vadai is the classic urad dal version. Masala vadai or paruppu vadai uses coarsely ground chana dal with onion and fennel, and is crunchier. Thayir vadai is a medhu vadai soaked in spiced curd. Keerai vadai adds greens, and coastal towns sell fish and prawn vadai variants.
Tiffin rooms across the state serve medhu vadai from morning. Roadside stalls in Madurai and Tirunelveli fry masala vadai in the evenings, and beach stalls at Marina in Chennai are known for them. Vadai malai, a garland of vadai, is offered at Hanuman temples and can be seen at many Anjaneyar shrines.
