Ulundu Vadai

Rinse the urad dal in water a few times to clean them.

Soak them in water overnight (or for at least 4-5 hours).

Drain well and put the lentils in a grinder jar or food processor.

First add 1 tbsp water and grind the lentils for a few minutes.

Switch off the grinder and scrape the sides of the jar with a spatula to loosen any unground lentils sticking to the inside of the jar.

Add 1 tbsp water and stir with the spatula.

Grind again in intervals scraping and stirring the batter a few times.

If you find itdifficult to grind the batter, you can add another 1/2 or 1 tbsp of water.

When the batter has become smooth, fluffy and soft, stop grinding.

There should be no grainy texture left in the batter. It should feel very smooth on your fingers.

Add the crushed black pepper, cumin, green chilies, asafoetida and salt to the ground batter.

Mix well and keep aside.

Heat oil in a kadai or pan for deep-frying the vadas.

Shape each medu vada by taking a small amount of the mixture and rolling it into a ball with wet fingers.  Then, flatten the ball into a disc shape and (again with a wet finger) add a hole to the middle so that it resembles a doughnut shape.

Fry them in medium hot oil till golden and crisp.

Drain vadas on paper napkins and serve the vada or medu vada hot with coconut chutney and sambar.