Baked Medu Wada

Two months back, while I was checking out few things at Marshall's, I found a donut baking tray. The first thought in my mind was medu wadas, because that is how they are shaped, just like donuts. As I shared my thought with Snehanshu, he was not very happy with it. You all know him. He loves medu wadas, but the thought of non-fried medu wada was not appealing. Anyways, I picked it up. While I could make fried medu wadas for Snehanshu, I would love to experiment and make baked ones for me. With all the workout and calories I try to burn at the gym during the weekdays, I cannot afford to just take in the calories over the weekend. Steven, my gym trainer would not be happy about it either :)

Medu Wada is a savory, crisp, deep fried white lentil donut. The hole will allow it to fry well, cook and get crisp. Yesterday was the time to experiment the baked one. Dinner of baked medu wada, sambhar and tomato chutney. I enjoyed it!!

Here is the donut making tray. I think I am going to be using it for many more recipes.

Soak 1 cup of urad dal (white lentil) in 2 cups of water for 6-8 hours.

Soaked overnight.

Remove excess water and grind soaked dal with green chillies and some pepper corns. Add 1/4 cup water if needed.

I like my food processor, it does not grind it into super fine paste, just what I like.

Cover and let the batter ferment. We want the batter to rise while baking. 

I like to leave it for 4-5 hours before baking it. 

Add a tsp. of salt and mix well with some water to obtain a falling consistency batter.

Mix to make it light and fluffy.

Brush or spray some oil in the molds.

Use a moist Ziplock bag to pipe the filling into each mold. 

 

You could also spoon the batter in. It is quick and easy.

Brush or spray some oil and bake in a 400F preheated oven till it turns golden brown and crisp.

15 minutes of baking and I could see it risen. I was so excited!!

  

Lovely golden brown color in 30 minutes. You could bake for longer time too.

I broiled it for 3 minutes to make it darker and crispier. 

I like my medu wada soaked in a bowl of hot delicious sambhar.

How do you like yours?

Yum with tomato chutney too!

Enjoy A Low Calorie Meal!