Uzhunnu Vada

Ingredients:

1. Urad Dal - 2 cups
2. Rice flour - 2 tbsp 
3. Onion - 1 
4. Green chillies - 3 nos 
5. Curry leaves - few
6. Ginger - 1 small piece 
7. Crushed Black Pepper Corns - 1 tbsp 
8. Baking Soda : a pinch 
9. Asafoetida (Kayam) – a pinch
10. Salt to taste 
11. Oil for deep frying

Method:

• Wash and soak urud dal for 3 to 4 hours.  
• In a wet grinder, grind the dal in small portions without adding water,If the grinder is unable to grind well, sprinkle some water and grind again till you get a smooth and thick paste,the batter has to be as thick as possible. 
• To have a crispy vada, add rice flour to the batter,Let the batter sit for 10-20 minutes 
• To this dal batter, add chopped ginger, green chillies, onion, curry leaves, crushed whole black pepper corns, a pinch of Asafoetida, a pinch of baking soda (to make the vadas soft) and salt and mix well. 
• Heat oil in a pan. Just add a pinch of the dough into hot oil, if this raises to the top immediately then the oil is hot enough to prepare the vadas.
• Wet your palm with cold water and take a small portion of the dough and roll it into a ball. Slightly flatten it and make a hole in the middle using your finger. Slowly drop the vada into oil. Fry both sides until it turns golden brown.