Ulli Vada - Deep Fried Onion Balls

Ulli Vada  is one of my favorite tea time snacks. Tasted this for the first time when my Mother had purchased it at a bus stop shop in Thiruvananthapuram. There were around 5 vadas covered in the day's newspaper which was totally drenched in oil! However, the delicious smell of vadas spread into the entire house and we fell for it happily! Another incident related to Ulli Vada is like this. My dad who knows my love for these, had purchased some and came to pick me up from my aunt's house. I noticed a cover hanging in his scooter and the aroma pointed to Ulli Vada with no space leaving for a second guess! I happily got into his scooter and drooled on the thought of chewing on the soft onion and crunchy crust. But, my dad had other plans. He stopped by a friend's house who was also my school mate's dad. We spend some time chatting and catching up and started back to our home. I was in a hurry to get back to attack those vadas. We got back and I declared to my brother that dad has got something for special us . My dad broke into a laughter, quite inappropriate for that time (you would agree soon). We didn't understand what's going on and he said " I forgot it at my friend's place!" You can imagine how we might have felt then! The next day my  friend told that , they all liked the Ulli Vada so much and wanted to thank us for that token of love!

Even today when I talk to dad about my love for Ulli Vada, I remind him about this incident and we both will broke into a laughter. Good Old times ! So for the sake of those times, here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1. Besan/Gram Flour - 1 Cup
2. Rice Flour - 1/2 Cup
3. Onion - 3 (Finely Sliced)
4. Ginger - 1 Tbsp(Finely Cut) - Optional
5. Green Chilly - 2 (Finely Cut)
6. Asafoetida Powder - 1 pinch
7. Fennel Seeds - 1 Tbsp.
8. Turmeric Powder - 1 Tsp
9. Red Chilly Powder - 1 Tsp
10. A bunch of curry leaves
11. Salt to Taste
12. Oil for frying

How to Make?

1. Mix Ingredients 1 - 11 along with water. The consistency should be such that , we could make balls out of it. I first mixed the flour with salt, then powders, then chilly, ginger and onion  . Mix well so that all the ingredients have spread out evenly.
2. Now make small balls out of it.
3. Heat Oil in a Kadai/wok and drop these balls one by one, when oil begins to boil.
4.  Now, simmer and cook each side till it turns golden brown.

I enjoyed this with a hot tea with the company of my parents.