Crispy Medhu Vada

Vada is a common term used for fried savoury snacks, in India. The medhu vada is made primarily of black lentils (urad dal) batter. Black lentils or black gram is a key ingredient in the famous Idly and Dosa. 
Black gram is very nutritious as it contains high levels of protein, potassium, calcium, iron, niacin, thiamine and riboflavin.Black gram complements the essential amino acids provided by cereals and plays an important part in the diets of the people of India and Nepal. Black gram is useful in mitigating elevated cholesterol levels. Like other pulses black gram is also recommended for diabetics. 

Preparation: 

• Soak the black gram in water for 4 hours. 
• Roast one tablespoon each of black gram and raw rice, separately. Cool. Then grind to a powder, not too fine. 
• After 4 hours drain off the water and grind the black gram little by little at a time, along with cooked rice and little salt. Since you are grinding in small portions there is no need to add water while grinding. (I divided the soaked black gram into three portions before grinding). Grind to a smooth paste. 
• Add baking soda to the ground paste, mix well and keep aside for 1 - 2 hours. 
• Chop finely the shallots, green chilly, ginger and curry leaves. 
• After 1 or 2 hours add the chopped vegetables and black pepper into the batter, stir well. Finally mix the roasted gram - rice powder into the batter. 
• Wet your hands (So the batter won't stick to your hands). Take a small lime size ball of batter in your hands, make small hole in the center, drop gently into hot oil and deep fry in medium flame. Flip and cook on both sides till golden brown. I could make 11 medhu vadas with the amount of ingredients given below. 
• Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato sauce. 

Ingredients: 

Black gram - 1/2 cup 

Cooked rice - 3 tablespoons 

Salt to taste 

Baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon  

Black gram - 1 tablespoon 

Raw rice - 1 tablespoon  

Shallots - 6 

green chilly - 1 

ginger  - 1 very small piece 

Curry leaves - a few 

Black pepper - 6 (whole) 

Raw Banana/Plantain Fritters / Bajjhi

Raw or Green banana contains Resistant Starch which does not breakdown like regular starch, so it passes through the intestines like insoluble fiber. Resistant starch and high fiber increases satiety and thus low consumption. Increases the rate of fat burning.Good for dieters and diabetics. Resistant starch is food for the good probiotic bacteria in the intestine. So bananas can prevent diarrhea and reduce the risk of colon cancer. It helps in the absorption of nutrients, especially calcium. Raw and ripe bananas contain Vitamins B6 ,C and potassium. 

Preparation : 

• Wash the banana/Plantain, Peel it lightly. Do not remove all the skin. Set aside.
• Take the besan/Chickpea flour in a small bowl. Add salt to taste, then add the chilly powder, cumin seeds, asafeotida and baking soda. Add water little by little and make a very thick batter. Keep aside for 5 minutes.
• Cut the banana into 3 or 4 equal parts. Then slice each piece into 3 or 4 pieces. 
• Heat oil in a pan. Dip each piece in the batter and deep fry. 
• Spread out on absorbent paper to remove excess oil. 
• Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato sauce. 

Ingredients:

Raw Plantain - 1 

Besan / Chickpea Flour - 1/2 cup 

Salt to taste 

Red chilly powder - 1/2 Teaspoon 

Cumin seeds - 1/4 teaspoon 

Asafeotida -a pinch 

Baking soda - 2 pinches 

Water 

Ari Unda / Rice Laddu

Ari Unda or Rice Laddu is a traditional snack of Kerala. It is made of rice, jaggery and grated coconut. The Ari unda which i am going to prepare now has very long shelf life. There is another easy ari unda recipe which i will publish later 

Preparation: 

• Melt the jaggery with half cup of water. Sieve and remove the impurities. Transfer the liquid jaggery into a a large, heavy pan. 
• Add the rice flour and fresh coconut into a large bowl. Knead the coconut and rice flour with your hands. Just the rice flour and coconut. Knead well. Roast this mixture on medium flame. Stir continuously. Roast until the mixture changes color and a good aroma arises. The important point is the removal of moisture from the mix. Remove from fire and keep aside. 
• Place the pan of jaggery on medium flame. Stir occasionally. Allow it to thicken. Check the consistency in between. Take a little jaggery in a spoon, wait a few seconds so the heat becomes bearable, take the jaggery in your index finger and thumb and stick the two fingers together and then pull apart, if a single string is formed between your fingers, its time to add the rice mixture into the jaggery syrup. Add the powdered cardamom also. Mix well on low flame. I like the one string consistency because the laddus will remain soft. If you want it harder you can allow the jaggery to thicken to 2 string consistency. Remove the mixture from flame and allow it to cool down to bearable heat. Using your hands make lemon sized laddus. Roll the laddus in a plate of rice flour, so that they won't stick together.
•  If the mixture cools down and you are unable to make balls, keep it on fire again and heat it up a bit. 
• Cool the laddus and store in air tight containers. 
• Serve Ari unda with tea. 

Ingredients: 

Rice Flour - 500 grams (Available in stores) 

Fresh coconut grated - 300 grams 

Jaggery - 800 grams 

Cardamom crushed/ powdered - 10 

Rice flour - 1 cup 

Neyyappam

Neyyappam is a sweet fried snack popular in Kerala, similar to donut. The ingredients are almost similar to that of Unniyappam. The main difference is unniyappam is fried in a mould (Appam patra or Appa karai). Neyyappam batter is directly poured into the hot ghee and deep fried. Ney means ghee in malayalam. The name neyyappam came to existence because it was fried in ghee. You can fry it in ghee or oil.

Preparation: 

• Wash and soak the raw rice for 4 hours. Melt the jaggery in half cup of water. Sieve and remove the impurities. Thicken the cleaned jaggery solution on low flame. (Add more jaggery if you want it sweeter.) 
• Fry the fresh coconut bits in ghee to golden brown. Keep aside. 
• Grind the rice well. But not too finely. Add the jaggery into the rice batter in the mixer bowl and mix it well. You add mashed banana now. But mashed banana reduces the shelf life. So it is optional. 
• Transfer the batter to another bowl. The batter must be neither  very very thick nor runny. Idli batter consistency. 
• Add the sesame seeds, fried coconut bits and a pinch of salt. (Other things which come under optional category may be added now). Set aside for a minimum of one hour, 4 - 5 hours is best. 
• Heat oil in a deep pan. When the oil is hot reduce heat to low. Scoop the batter in a deep spoon and pour into the hot oil. Flip and fry both sides, till deep brown. If cooked in high flame the insides will remain raw. 
• Drain on a paper towel. Serve with tea. 

Ingredients: 

Raw rice - 250 grams 

Jaggery  - 175 grams 

Fresh coconut bits - 50 grams 

Sesame seeds - 1 1/2 tablespoons 

Cardamom powder - 1/4 teaspoon OR 2 cardamoms powdered 

Salt - 1 or 2 pinches

Ghee - 2 teaspoons 

Oil or Ghee for deep frying

Water as needed 

Maida (flour) - 2 tablespoons (optional) 

Sodium bicarbonate - 2 pinches (optional)

 OR

Banana (mashed) - 1 (optional)

Mysore Bonda

Preparation: 

• Soak the urad dal (Black gram) for two hours, and grind well with very little water. Add salt to taste.
• Add the coconut bits, chopped green chilly and pepper corns. 
• Heat oil. When it starts boiling, wet your hands in water and take a little batter, roll into a ball and deep fry to golden brown. Repeat the process until the batter is over. 
• Serve with tomato sauce or coconut chutney. You can even have it as such. 

Ingredients:  *

Urad dal - 1 cup 

Green chilly - 1 chopped finely 

Black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon 

Coconut bits - 1 - 2 tablespoons 

Salt to taste 

Oil - 1 - 2 cups (depending on the size of the deep-fry pan) 




* Makes 28 mysore bondas.