No matter what, we Indians can never get tired of the rich regional cuisines. From butter chicken of the north to the rasam of the south, every regional cuisine of India has something or the other to offer to everyone. On our culinary trip to the south, we are stopping at Karnataka’s Maddur village. And can someone even miss the signature dish that was born in this particular village? Yes, you heard it right. The very popular, crispy, and delicious Maddur Vada had originated in the Maddur village of Mandya district of Karnataka. The village is just 80 kilometers away from the city of Bengaluru. Are you curious about how the Vada was named after the town? Read on to know more.
A man named Ramachandra Budhya was running ‘Vegetarian Refreshment Room’ at the Maddur Railway Station in the year 1917. He catered to the cravings of the passengers by selling idli, vada, pakoras and sambar. One April afternoon, Budhya was running a bit late in making the batter and frying the pakoras. To satisfy the cravings of the passengers of the upcoming train, he threw in everything that was on the table in a big bowl, made a batter and fried pakoras out of it. Needless to say, the pakoras were a hit amongst the passengers and rose to fame gradually.
After seeing the popularity of the Vadas, Budhya’s descendants put a lot into promotion and made them even more popular. Budhya’s descendants continued to serve the Vadas at VRR till 1973. The delicacy then reached the hands of HD Hebbar who opened Maddur Tiffanys in the Mysore-Bangalore National Highway.
Maddur Vada is made with oodles of onions, ghee, butter, semolina, maida, rice flour, curry leaves, and a few basic Indian spices. All of these ingredients are mixed together to make a batter and then fried to make pakoras out of them. You can follow the detailed embedded recipe to make these vadas at home.