When I decide to try any recipe that involves deep-frying, there is quite a flutter in my home as I avoid deep-frying as much as possible. So this weekend as I got ready to make delicious Maddur Vada, I had quite an audience in amused family members.
Maddur Vada | A Delicious Tea Time Snack from Karnataka
Jokes aside, I have been wanting to make Maddur Vada at home for ages and decided to make it this Saturday just on a whim. It is a recipe that transforms ingredients commonly found in Indian homes—rice flour, semolina, maida (APF), chillies, and curry leaves—into a delicious snack.
What I loved about Maddur Vada is despite the deep-frying it did not absorb any oil, and had a light crispness on the outside while being soft on the inside. So even the Octagenarians in my home could enjoy it without much trouble.
Like Chitti Boorelu, Punugulu, and Goli Bhajje, Maddur Vada turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to my evening tumbler of Kaapi.
How to Make the Perfect Maddur Vada
Maddur Vada | Crispy Tea Time Snack
Maddur Vada is just the perfect snack to accompany your evening cup of tea or coffee. You can make it in a jiffy with ingredients commonly found in Indian homes.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Rice Flour
- 1/4 Cup Rava (Semolina)
- 1/4 Cup Maida (APF)
- 1/3 Cup Finely Chopped Onion
- 3-4 Finely Chopped Green Chillies
- 10-16 Finely Chopped Curry Leaves
- 1 Pinch Hing (Aasfoetida)
- Salt to Taste
- Oil for Deep Frying
- Water for Making the Dough
Other Requirements
- Banana Leaf or Plastic Sheet
Instructions
Making the Dough
- In a large bowl, mix together the rice flour, maida, rava, chillies, curry leaves, hing, and salt.
- Mix well.
- Heat about 2 tbsp oil till its hot and add the flour mix.
- Use a spoon to quickly mix the oil into the flour.
- Now slowly add water and make a tight but pliable dough.
Making the Maddur Vade
- In a kadhai, on medium flame, heat enough oil to deep fry to Maddur Vade. To test the heat, drop a tiny ball of dough into the oil. It should rise to the top and sizzle moderately on the surface.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Keep covered.
- Use 1 or 2 drops oil to grease a plastic sheet or a banana leaf.
- Roll one portion of the dough into a ball and place on the oiled sheet.
- Use a greased fingers to pat the dough ball into a circle about 2.5" in diameter and about 1/4" thick.
- Slide the Maddur Vada into the oil.
- Fry on medium heat till the side facing the bottom is golden brown. Flip over and fry till the flip side is golden brown as well. See notes.
- Using a slotted ladle, remove the fried Maddur Vada from the oil and drain excess oil.
- Serve hot with Coconut Chutney.
Notes
- Fry the Maddur Vade on moderate heat because otherwise you will have Vade that are fried on the outside but raw on the inside.
- A simple way of detecting if your oil is too hot is to see if blisters form on the outside of the Maddur Vada. If there are, the oil is too hot.
Maddur Vada
Recipe with Step-by-Step Instructions to Make the Perfect Maddur Vada
- The First Step: Making the Maddur Vada Dough
- In a large bowl, combine the rice flour, maida, rava, chillies, curry leaves, hing, and salt.
- Mix all the ingredients well and make a small well in the middle.
- Using a ladle, heat 2 tbsp oil and add it to the dry ingredients.
- Using a spoon, quickly mix the oil into the dry ingredients. This oil helps make the Maddur Vada softer on the inside and also helps it cook well when we deep-fry.
- Now add small quantities of water and knead the ingredients together to make a dough that is just soft enough so that it can be shaped into small discs. If the dough is very stiff, the Maddur Vada will break as you are trying to shape them. If the dough is too soft, the Vade will absorb oil when you fry them.
- In a large bowl, combine the rice flour, maida, rava, chillies, curry leaves, hing, and salt.
- Shaping and Frying the Maddur Vade
- To a kadhai, add about 1.5 cups of oil to deep fry to Maddur Vade. You need about a 2″ deep layer of oil. I use a small but deep kadhai.
- On a medium flame, heat the oil till it is moderately hot. To test the heat, drop a tiny ball of dough into the oil. It should rise slowly to the surface and sizzle with moderate intensity. If you oil is too hot, the Maddur Vada will cook very quickly on the surface and also form blisters on the surface, but the inside will remain raw. If your oil is cold, the vada will absorb oil as they fry.
- Divide the dough into 12 equal portions and roll each portion into a ball. Keep covered. I found that one portion of dough is roughly what I could scoop with a standard baking tablespoon (tbsp).
- Lightly grease a plastic sheet or banana leaf using 1 or 2 drops oil.
- Place one portion of the dough on the greased sheet and press into a thick disc about 2.5″ in diameter. If the disc is very thin, then you have have a very crisp Maddur Vada much like a Thattai | Chekkalu.
- Gently, transfer the disc onto your fingers and slide it into the oil.
- Let the Maddur Vade Fry on medium heat till the side facing the bottom is golden brown.
- Gently flip over the Vada and fry till the other side is golden brown.
- Remove the fried Maddur Vada from the oil and drain excess oil.
- Serve hot with Hotel Style Coconut Chutney.
Maddur Vade
Aruna, I had eaten Maddur vade in Bangalore and loved them! I am happy to have a recipe now!
Great recipe ! Looks so authentic & delicious !!
It s raining here send me some of these tasty vadai:-)
Here they come!
I absolutely love love them & I think it is time to fire up the frying pans at home.. he he .. all thanks to your posts.
An occasional firing up is OK. I had a hearty soup for lunch for the next 2 days. 😀
Actually frying at home is not an issue. Its the outside food which does all the damage. Our ancestors had papadams almost everyday and were fit as a horse! I do this trick too of having soups for lunch / dinner whenever i cheat.