Thayir Vadai Recipe | South Indian Curd Vada

Thayir Vadai is a South Indian snack that can be prepared from scratch or made from the leftover medhu vada. This thayir vadai can be had as a breakfast, evening snack or as an accompaniment with lunch.

Crispy out and soft in medhu vada is my hubby’s favorite. I always serve it with sambar or coconut chutney as he likes it that way. This time I wanted to serve it differently and ended up making this thayir vadai. This turned out to be very soft and spongy after soaking it in the curd. I refrigerated it for an hour and it tasted awesome.

Points to be noted while making the vada: Add a tbsp of water at a time to grind the dal. Use whipper mode in the mixer while grinding to smooth paste. For one cup urad dal, add only 3-4 tbsps of water. The consistency should be neither too thick nor watery.

Once the batter is made, if its thick add a little water or else if the batter is watery and does not hold shape add a tbsp of rice flour to thicken it. Do not add too much rice flour too. It makes vada hard. For each vada wet your hands with water so that you can shape it easily and slide the vada into oil. We usually make vada in a single hand. You can even pat vada in banana leaf or over your palm. Now let us see how to prepare this recipe.

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Thayir Vadai Recipe | South Indian Curd Vada

Print Recipe

Soft and spongy curd vada/thayir vadai.

• CourseEvening Snack
• CuisineSouth Indian

Servings	Prep Time
4 people	10 min

Cook Time

30 min(excluding freezing time)

Servings Prep Time 4 people 10 min

Cook Time 30 min(excluding freezing time)

Thayir Vadai Recipe | South Indian Curd Vada Print Recipe Soft and spongy curd vada/thayir vadai. CourseEvening Snack CuisineSouth Indian Servings Prep Time 4 people 10 min Cook Time 30 min(excluding freezing time) Servings Prep Time 4 people 10 min Cook Time 30 min(excluding freezing time)

Ingredients

To prepare vada

• 1 cup Urad Dal/Uluttam Paruppu
• 1 Onion finely chopped
• 2 Green chilies finely chopped
• 1 tsp Pepper Corns/milagu
• 1 strand Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves/Kothamalli finely chopped
• salt to taste
• 1 cup oil to deep fry

Other ingredients

• 1 cup Curd
• 1 pinch Chili powder to granish
• 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves/Kothamalli finely chopped
• salt to taste

To temper

• 1 tsp oil
• 1 Green chili finely chopped
• 1 strand Curry Leaves/Karuveppilai
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds /kadugu

Servings: people

Instructions

To prepare vada

1. Soak Urad dal in water for one hour. Then wash the dal thoroughly and set aside.
2. Drain the water and grind dal to smooth paste by adding a tbsp of water at a time. For the entire urad dal, it needs only 3 to 4 tbsps of water. I ground urad dal in two batches using a mixer. Use whipper mode in the mixer to grind the batter to smooth paste.
3. In a wide bowl, add ground urad dal paste, onion, green chilies, pepper, coriander leaves, curry leaves, and salt to taste. Mix it thoroughly. The consistency should be neither too thick nor watery. If the batter is thick add a little water or else if the batter is watery and does not hold shape add a tbsp of rice flour to thicken it. If grounded properly it is not necessary to add rice flour at all.
4. Heat a Kadai with enough oil to deep fry. Once the oil gets heated, add a drop of batter. If it raises immediately then the oil is ready, but the color of the batter should not change immediately. Wet your hand with water, take a ball size batter in your hand, flatten it and make a hole in the middle using the thumb and gently slide it into the oil.
5. Do not overcrowd vadas. Deep fry vada in medium flame until golden brown. Flip once to fry on the other side. Remove and drain it on a kitchen towel. Vada is ready.

To make curd vada

1. In a bowl add prepared vada, add hot water to immerse vada, close the lid and set aside for 5 min to soak vada.
2. In another bowl add curd, 1/4 cup of water, salt to taste and whisk it well to smooth texture.
3. Now heat a pan and add a tsp of oil. Add mustard seeds and let it crackle. Then add green chilies, curry leaves and saute for a min, pour it on the prepared curd and mix well.
4. Now squeeze the soaked vada to remove excess water and place it in a bowl. On the squeezed vada pour the prepared curd until all the vada is immersed thoroughly. Sprinkle with chili powder on top and garnish with coriander leaves.
5. Let the vada soak in curd for an hour. Keep it in the refrigerator and serve chilled.

Recipe Notes

• Soak urad dal / black lentil at least for an hour.
• Add a tbsp of water at a time to grind the dal.
• Use whipper mode in the mixer while grinding to smooth paste.
• The consistency should be neither too thick nor watery. If the batter is thick add a little water or else if the batter is watery and does not hold shape add a tbsp of rice flour to thicken it.
• For each and every vada wet your hands with water, so that you can shape it and easily slide the vada into oil.
• Also, add 4 to 5 vadas at a time. Do not overcrowd. 
• You can even add chopped ginger for more flavor. Some even add hing and chopped coconut bits.
• Keep the prepared curd in between the consistency of idli and dosa batter. Neither too thick nor too watery.

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Delicious melt in the mouth, soft thayir vadai/curd vada is ready to relish.

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