Medu Vada

Ingredients you need:

Urad Dal                       1 cup
Crushed pepper             2 tspn
Onion                           1/2 diced
Green Chilli                  5 diced
Cuminseeds                 2 tspn crushed
Rice flour                    2 tspn
salt


Procedure:

1.  Soak urad dal in water for 4 hours
2.  Drain the water and grind the urad dal in mixie by adding very little water. (For 1 cup urad dal 1/2 cup water would be enough). Grind it little coarsly, not very smooth as you grind for idli batter.
3.  Add required salt, crushed pepper, crushed cumin seeds, green chilli, onion and rice flour. Mix and beat the batter in your hand for atleast 10 to 12 mins for aeration.
4.  Heat the oil in a pan. Take lemon size vada batter in your hand (before taking batter, first dip your hand in water, so that batter will not stick to your hand while putting it in the oil.), make a hole in it with your thumb and drop it gently in the oil.
5.  Fry it and tasty vada is ready!

-> Do not add too much water at a time, add little by little and grind the urad dal.
-> Beating the batter nicely will give enough aeration to it. This makes vada soft and fluffy.
   Tips: Take a small ball of batter and put it in the bowl of water. If it floats then it means the batter is nicely aerated. If it sinks down, then you should beat the batter again and check.
-> Adding rice flour will give crispness and nice golden color to vada.
->You can use thick plastic sheet, apply little oil on it, take a round lemon size batter, press it lightly to flatten it and then make a small hole in the center with your finger tip. Since you have applied oil to the sheet the batter will slide easily, take it in your hand and drop it gently into the oil.