Ulli vada are crisp and crunchy onion fritters. Popular as a street food snack in Kerala.
Recipe Snapshot
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
- Total time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3
- Category: Snacks, Starters
- Cuisine: Indian Street Food, Kerala
Ingredients
- 1.25 cups thinly sliced onions (or 1 large onion - thinly sliced)
- ½ cup besan ((gram flour))
- 2 tablespoons Rice Flour ((chawal ka atta))
- 2 pinches asafoetida ((hing))
- ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder ((lal mirch powder))
- 10 to 12 curry leaves, chopped ((kadi patta))
- salt (as required)
- oil for deep frying
Method
making ulli vada batter
- Peel, rinse and then thinly slice 1 large onion. You will need 1.25 cups thinly sliced onions. Take the sliced onions in a mixing bowl.
- Add ½ cup besan (gram flour) and 2 tablespoons rice flour.
- Now add 2 pinches of asafoetida (hing) and ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder.
- Next add 10 to 12 curry leaves (chopped) and salt as required.
- Mix very well and keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
- The onions will leaves their juices by this time and the vada mixture will be soft. Mix again. If the batter mixture looks dry then add a few teaspoons of water and mix well.
frying ulli vada
- Heat oil for deep frying in a pan. When the oil becomes hot, keep the flame to medium and drop spoonfuls of batter in the oil.
- Begin to fry ulli vada on a medium flame.
- When one side is light golden, then turn over and fry the other side.
- Continue to fry till the vada turn crisp and golden.
- Turn over as required while frying.
- Once the ulli vada are crisp and golden, remove with a slotted spoon.
- Place the fried onion vada on kitchen paper towels for extra oil to be absorbed. In a similar way fry the remaining batches of ulli vada.
- Serve kerala style ulli vada hot with any chutney of your choice.
Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note
Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.