Biscuit Ambade / Uddin Wade / Medu Wada

 

Anyone who loves South Indian food must have tried Medu Vada at least once. Medu Vada, also known as Uddin Wada are savory donut shaped fritters made of black gram. That donut shape definitely looks good, but I go with the simple round shape. In Konkani, we call these crispy, golden brown goodies as Biscuit Ambade.

Ingredients:

Urad Dal/Split Black Gram - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp (optional)
Cumin/Jeera Seeds - 1 tsp
Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coconut Pieces - 1/4 cup (optional)
Green Chillies - 4
Ginger - an inch piece
Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs 
Curry Leaves - a sprig
Oil
Salt

How to make Medu Vada:

• Soak urad dal in plenty of water for 4 - 5 hours.
• Grind urad dal to a smooth thick paste, adding as little water as possible. Batter must be thick and not runny. At the same time, too thick batter will make the wada hard.
• Finely chop curry leaves, green chilies, cilantro leaves and coconut slices. Add it to the ground urad dal batter. Also, add rice flour, fresh ground black pepper, cumin and salt. Beat the batter well. Rice flour is not essential, but it makes the wada crisp. 
• You can add a pinch of baking soda to the batter as well.
• Heat oil in a kadhai. Wet your hands with water and add one small ball of the batter to the medium hot oil. Deep fry until golden brown. Taste for seasonings and add more salt to the batter, if required. Repeat the same for the rest of the batter. Do not overcrowd the frying pan. Let the frying be a slow process, so that the wada turns golden brown on the outside and is cooked on the inside as well.

Serve hot Uddin Wade with Coconut Chutney.