Medu vada

I absolutely love medu vada, but am far too lazy to make them the conventional way. While the doughnut shaped ones do look good, I am not sure if getting the perfect shape is worth all the trouble, specially since the funny shaped ones taste almost as good. So this time, while making tair vadai for Holi, I decided to reserve a few just for myself.
I also tried out a couple of modifications, which gave it an extra crunch.

1 cup urad dal, soaked for at least 6 hours

1 half inch piece ginger 

1 green chilli

1 sprig curry leaves

1 tbsp sooji/ rawa

1/2 tsp baking soda

salt to taste

oil for frying

Method

Grind the urad dal with ginger, chilli and curry leaves, and very little water

Pour the batter into a bowl, add salt, baking soda, and rawa, and whisk well with the hand till nice and fluffy (you can test it by dropping a bit in water- if it sinks down, and then rises up, it's done, if not, beat a bit more).

Heat the oil in a kadhai- test by dropping a bit of batter in the oil- if it rises up with bubbles, the oil is just right.

Take a bit of batter and drop it gently into the oil, turn it around a bit to ensure it is well brown.
Ensure you check the temperature of the oil before every batch.

Serve hot with green chutney, or reserve for tair vadais.