Easy Urad Vada Bites - Make with Watermelon Rind
Mix Urad flour and Idli Rava with pureed watermelon rind and set aside for an hour. Stir in chopped onion, fresh coriander (cilantro), spicy green chillies, curry leaves, salt and pepper. Just before frying Vadas, stir in the baking powder. Shape the mixture into mini Vadas and fry in hot oil until crisp and golden on both sides. Serve immediately with fresh coconut Chutney. Enjoy!
Equipment
- Electric blender / food processor to puree watermelon rind
- 1 Small-medium wok (1 quart/L) for frying Vada; if not available, use a deep frying pan or small saucepan (1 - 1 1/2 quart/L)
- 1 Sturdy Slotted spoon metal or wood: for mixing and whipping aerating the thick batter
- 1 Small Mesh strainer to sift baking powder
Ingredients
Mix and set aside for 1 hour - to hydrate
- 2/3 cup Watermelon rind - cooked and pureed about 1 1/4 cup raw (175 g); Make Puree in advance, or allow extra 15-20 prep time.
- 3 tbsp Idli Rava (30 g) Cream of rice - not too coarse; if not available, see Recipe Notes for using rice.
- 1/2 cup Urad flour (50 g) fine textured from skinless Urad dal; if not available, see Recipe Notes for using Urad Dal
Mix into the prepared mixture
- 1/2 cup Onion - chopped any kind - red, yellow, white
- 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander leaves - (Cilantro) chopped OK to use tender stems too
- 1/2 tsp Fresh Ginger - grated if not available, use 1/4 tsp dried ginger powder
- 1/2 tsp Green Chilli - spicy variety - chopped about 1/2 Serrano - adjust for preferred spiciness
- 6-8 leaves Curry leaves - finely chopped if fresh leaves not available, use dried leaves - crumble between fingertips before adding
- 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp Salt taste-test and add an extra pinch if you prefer
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper - coarsely crushed freshly crushed preferred
Add just before frying Vadas
- 1/2 tsp Baking powder sift through a small strainer to catch any globs/lumps - gently smash them and strain before adding to the vada batter
Oil for frying
- 6 tbsp Oil I like to use peanut oil for frying - any other high smoke-point oil is fine too
Instructions
Make Watermelon Rind Puree: OK to make in advance. If making when needed, allow for extra 30-40 min prep time to make puree.
- Cut a 1/2 inch thick slice of watermelon and lay it on its side. Pare the thick green peel away from the rinds and red flesh
- Now cut away the white rind and collect it in a bowl.
- Briefly cook the watermelon rind pieces by on of these two methods.On the Stove-top: See pic on the side Place the watermelon rind in a saucepan and add 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on Hi for 3-4 min. Turn heat off and allow to cool to room temperature before blending into puree. In the microwave: (no pic)Place the watermelon rind in a microwave safe bowl and add 2 tbsp water. Cover and cook on Hi for 30 seconds, then on 30% power for 3-4 min. Allow to cool to room temperature before blending into puree.
- Cooked watermelon rind - it turns a bit translucent as it cooks.
- Transfer the cooked watermelon rind, along with the cooking water to a blender jar and puree until smooth.
- Pureed rind.
- Measure out 3/4 cup of the puree and save the rest for another use (see Recipe Notes for ideas). Freeze the puree if you don't plan to use it soon - it's good for at least a couple of months, maybe longer.
Make the Vada Batter
- Measure out 3 tbsp of Idli Rava and 1/2 cup fine Urad flour into a medium mixing bowl (1- 1 1/2 quart/L). Mix well with a sturdy slotted spoon, breaking up any lumps (push the lumps against the side of the bowl with the back of the spoon.
- Add the measured (1/2 cup) watermelon rind puree.
- Mix well with the slotted spoon - do NOT add any extra water! Whip the thick mixture with the slotted spoon to aerate it a little - 1-2 min.Cover and set aside for about 1 hour. This rest time allows the Idli Rava and Urad flour to hydrate properly as they absorb the moisture from the pureed rind.
While the mixture rests, prepare the remaining ingredients
- Chop the onion.
- Wash and grate the fresh ginger.
- Wash and chop the spicy green chillies.
- Wash and chop the fresh coriander leaves and tender stems.
- Wash and finely chop the curry leaves.
- After the Vada batter has rested for about an hour, add all these ingredients, along with cumin seeds, freshly crushed black pepper and salt. Do NOT mix until ready to fry! Why? Mixing the salt to early makes the batter become runny and difficult to shape for frying.
Frying the Vadas
- Place about 6 tbsp oil in a small wok or saucepan (1quart/L). Heat on low-medium for 4-5 min. You might need to add a little more oil (up to 2 tbsp more) if using a small saucepan (you need about 1 1/2 - 2 inches of oil depth)Meanwhile, sift 1/2 tsp baking powder through a small mesh strainer into a small bowl: smash any lumps that remain in the strainer and push them through the strainer- if you use lumpy baking powder, it does not mix well into the batter and can leave a bitter after-taste in those portions. Add the strained baking powder to the Vada batter and mix all the seasonings thoroughly with a slotted spoon. The baking powder helps make the Vadas extra light and fluffy.Note: If making a large batch of these Vadas, divide up the batter before adding any seasonings; add the seasonings to each portion separately, just before you're ready to fry the Vadas with that portion.
- Add about 1/2 cup of cool water to a bowl and keep it handy. Wet your fingers in the bowl of water, pick up a tiny bit of the batter (about 1/4 tsp or less) and drop it into the oil to check if the oil is hot enough to fry the Vadas: if the little bit of batter sinks and then quickly rises to the top, the oil is hot enough and ready. Wet your fingers again and scoop up about 2 tsp of the prepared batter - it should be quick thick - not runny!Gently shape it into a thick round disc with your wet thumb (and the fingers under the batter).
- Use your wet thumb to make a small hole in the center of the disc.
- Slide the Vada (with a gentle push) into the hot oil.
- Repeat, wetting your fingers as needed, adding about 5-6 Vadas into the hot oil for each batch.
- Carefully flip them with a DRY spoon - when they turn golden brown on the bottom
- After they are evenly browned on both sides, remove the golden, crispy Vadas from the oil with a slotted spoon, and hold the spoon against the side of the wok for 4-5 seconds, to allow some of the oil to drain. Transfer the Vadas to an absorbent paper-towel lined plate. Repeat with the remaining batter: should be done in about 2-3 more batches.Yields about 15-18 bite-sized Vadas.
- Serve immediately with a chutney of your choice: coconut chutney is simply perfect, but not essential... plain old ketchup is fine too!Enjoy!
- Move the wok with the hot oil away from the hot burner. When cooled, transfer to a glass or stainless steel container and store in the refrigerator - NOT on the counter!Since the oil will not have been heated for too long (less than 10 min or so), you can use it up over the next 2-3 days - do NOT re-use the oil for frying!However, if you're planning to make a larger batch of these Vadas, and he oil gets heated for 15 min or longer, I recommend disposing of it after you're done frying. Ideally, oil that has been heated for a long time should be discarded - it is not good to use it for cooking anything afterwards. Yes, it seems wasteful to throw it away, but isn't your good health is more important?!
Notes
Watermelon Rind Alternatives
You can use puree made from any of the following squash varieties:- Ash Gourd (Winter melon) - remove tough skin before cooking - discard tough seeds
- Zucchini : peel the green skin before cooking
- Yellow Summer squash : peel the yellow skin before cooking
- Dudhi (Ghiya, Bottle gourd, Calabash) - remove the tough green skin before cooking - discard any tough seeds
Idli Rava not available?
Grind 2 1/2 tbsp rice (about 30 g) - any variety - to a coarse powder in a coffee/spice grinder: sift it and grind the coarser bits again if needed.Urad Flour not available?
Measure out (3 tbsp+ 1 tsp) Urad Dal into a bowl (this is about 50 g). Grind to to a powder in a coffee/spice grinder. Sift it and grind the coarser bits again: it will yield about 1/3 cup slightly coarse powder. Even though it is not as fine- textured as the store-bought urad flour, it will still give you excellent Vadas.Storing Leftovers
Store any leftover Vadas in the refrigerator.- Use within 2 -3 days
- Re-heat to crisp up in a toaster oven or air fryer:
- I do NOT recommend reheating in the microwave : they will become soft, rather than crispy!
- Re-heat to crisp up in a toaster oven or air fryer:
Nutrition
Serving: 5mini VadasCalories: 174kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 6gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gSodium: 279mgPotassium: 263mgFiber: 6gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 212IUVitamin C: 85mgCalcium: 94mgIron: 2mg
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