Baked ulli vada/ Baked onion fritters

Ulli vada/onion fritters is one of my childhood favorites, the name itself makes me feel nostalgic. Appa would buy parippu vada (Lentil fritters), ulli vada (onion fritters) for me and sister, Uzhunnu Vada (Black gram fritters) for mom from a Thattukada near his office. Every day while coming back from his work, he will bring some goodies, so once he is home, both I and my sister would search his bags, and sure we will find something. Even now if he goes out for getting something (now days to get his pension) he will bring some chocolate, vadas etc, but nowadays his bags are searched by his granddaughter and grandson. Only the generation has changed, but not the expectation of a tasty food in his bag.

I can’t forget the taste of vadas we used to get from “Thattukada” (local fast food joint; roadside eatery). Golden brown colored crispy onion vadas are usually enjoyed with tea( that is also famous 5 feet tea, take a look at this video

). Whatever I try I am unable to replicate the exact taste and the crispiness of the onion vadas they make. The ones I make are really tasty; though I won’t pass a chance to try the ones from Thattukada. Yesterday for evening tea, I had only a few blue berry muffins in my hand, so I decided to make onion fritters, which my hubby likes a lot. As I was collecting all the items to make the vada, suddenly I had an idea why don’t I try it as a baked version, and then it also becomes a snack with fewer calories.

I haven’t seen any recipe for baked ulli vada, so I tried my own recipe. This time I added some breadcrumbs to it. They came out really tasty. Little one, hubby and I enjoyed it very much. If you are not able to get the Thattukada special ulli vada, try this one some time, it is guilt free snack. Here goes the recipe

Print recipe from here

What you need

 Onion: 2 ½ cups ( About 2 medium onion, chopped thin as possible)
Chana dal flour/Besan: ½ cup
Rice flour: 1/5 cup
Bread crumbs: 3 tablespoon
Salt: 1 teaspoon
Chili powder: ½ teaspoon
Fennel seeds: ¼ teaspoon
Asafetodia: ¼ teaspoon
Spring onions: 3 no
Curry leaves: 1 sprig (chopped finely)
Coriander leaves: 2 tablespoon (Chopped finely)
Olive oil: 2 tablespoon







How I made

Preheat oven to 410 Fahrenheit.

Peel and chopped the onions as thin as possible (It will cause tears, don’t worry end result is worth it with shedding of tears). Wash and chop curry leaves and coriander leaves finely and set aside.

In a bowl mix besan, rice flour, salt, chili powder, fennel seeds and asafetodia. To this add chopped onion, coriander, curry leaves mixture. Mix until everything incorporated well and add bread crumbs and mix once again to combine everything to form dough that you can make balls out of it.

In baking sheet lined with non-stick aluminum foil, brush with olive oil and set aside. Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and with hands form into a small patties or circular disc (mixture will be wet) and place on a well greased baking sheet leaving 2 inch space between each other. 

Drizzle olive oil on the patties so that it gets oil in both sides. Bake for 35 minutes or until they become golden brown, flipping in between every 15 minutes. Enjoy warm. If you have any leftover reheat them in microwave for 15 seconds at high Heat.( I don't think  there will any left over)

Enjoy with  hot  cup  of tea or coffee.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Yield: 12 no
Verdict: Tasty, Crispy
Will you make it again Yes I will.


Swathi