Medu Vada Calories: Less Oil and More Oil

By NYUS Inc. · Published 3 November 2026

The figures on this page are built from IFCT 2017 Table 1 rows and, where Table 1 has no row, USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy records. No primary table has a medu vada record: IFCT 2017, the Indian Food Composition Tables from ICMR-NIN, prints raw foods (its few cooked rows are boiled and omelette eggs and roasted vermicelli) and no medu vada, no fried dish and no cooking oil row, and USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy has no medu vada record. So this page does not quote a number. It works one plate out line by line: the dry urad dal, green chilli, ginger and curry leaves from named rows and the oil from a USDA record, with weights that are our assumptions and the oil shown apart so you can see what it adds, once with 10 g of oil and once with 20 g. They are estimates, shown so you can change the weights to match your pan. For urad dal vadas in curd see our dahi vada guide, for the sambar served with them our sambar and rasam guide, for the idli and sambar plate our idli sambar guide, and for the spoon values our ghee, oil and sugar guide.

The short answer

By our working, one plate of medu vada with a little oil (50 g dry urad dal, 3 g green chilli, 3 g fresh ginger and 2 g curry leaves and 10 g of peanut oil (about 2.2 teaspoons)) is about 254.6 kcal and 11.8 g protein, and one plate with more oil (50 g dry urad dal, 3 g green chilli, 3 g fresh ginger and 2 g curry leaves and 20 g of peanut oil (about 1.5 tablespoons)) is about 343.0 kcal and 11.8 g protein. Scaling the dry urad dal from 40 to 60 g (every other ingredient scaled with it) and the oil from 5 to 15 g the less oil plate runs 177.1 to 332.1 kcal, and with 15 to 25 g of oil the more oil plate runs 265.5 to 420.5 kcal. These are estimates from the weights below, not measured values, not from a medu vada record and not a shop or restaurant figure. Our reading: the parts of the less oil main case rank the dry urad dal 162.0 kcal, the oil 88.4 kcal, the green chilli, ginger and curry leaves 4.2 kcal; the parts of the more oil main case rank the oil 176.8 kcal, the dry urad dal 162.0 kcal, the green chilli, ginger and curry leaves 4.2 kcal; and the more oil plate is 88.4 kcal above the other because only the oil differs.

Table rows used, per 100 g

IFCT 2017 Table 1 prints, per 100 g edible portion, water, protein, ash, total fat, total dietary fibre, insoluble and soluble fibre, carbohydrate and energy in kJ. We read these 4 rows from the PDF text on 3 November 2026, as the mean of the regions shown (PDF pages in the Sources); the kcal is ours (kJ divided by 4.184, to 0.1). IFCT prints no portion weights; every row here is raw, so we count raw weight, and the water the dal takes up when it is soaked and ground, and the weight the vadas gain or lose in frying, are not printed in any table; the dal is counted dry.

The oil: USDA SR Legacy, per 100 g

IFCT 2017 Table 1 has no cooking oil row, so the oil comes from USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy; it is a US record (peanut oil). Energy is USDA's kcal with the kJ beside it; water, protein, total fat and carbohydrate (by difference) are in g, then fibre (g), total sugars (g) and sodium (mg), all per 100 g.

The data-type label on each USDA field, as the record shows it

USDA's record page shows a data-type label beside some fields and none beside others. This table copies what the record shows, read field by field from the nutrient table of the record page; "no label shown" means the record prints no label there, and "not printed" means the record has no row for that field. We do not interpret the labels beyond printing them. IFCT 2017 prints no such labels.

The household portions USDA prints for the USDA records

These are the entries in the records' Measures lists, as printed; the other entry is 100 g. This page counts the oil in grams and takes 1 teaspoon as 4.5 g and 1 tablespoon as 13.5 g, the oil record's own measures. The kcal in the last column is ours: the printed kcal per 100 g times the grams, divided by 100, shown to 0.1.

The portion sums: 171410 1 tsp (4.5 g): 884 × 4.5 / 100 = 39.78, so 39.8 kcal; 171410 1 cup (216 g): 884 × 216 / 100 = 1909.44, so 1909.4 kcal; 171410 1 tbsp (13.5 g): 884 × 13.5 / 100 = 119.34, so 119.3 kcal. By the same arithmetic 5 g of oil is 44.2 kcal and 10 g 88.4 kcal.

Worked example 1: medu vada with a little oil

Every weight here is our assumption for one plate, counted raw: soaked, ground urad dal with green chilli, ginger and curry leaves fried into vadas, counted as one plate (our assumption: dal for about five vadas); the oil is the oil the vadas take up in frying, an amount we assume, not the oil put in the pan. Each IFCT line is the kJ divided by 4.184, times the grams, divided by 100, to 0.1 kcal; each USDA line is the printed kcal per 100 g times the grams, divided by 100; protein is the table's protein per 100 g times the grams, divided by 100. Salt and spice powders are not counted.

The grid varies the raw dry urad dal per plate (40, 50, 60 g, with every other ingredient scaled by the same factor and rounded to 0.1 g) and the oil (5, 10, 15 g); the weights in the table above are the 50 g main case.

Worked example 2: medu vada with more oil

Same method and the same 50 g dry urad dal, 3 g green chilli, 3 g fresh ginger and 2 g curry leaves; the 10 g of oil becomes 20 g. This is our assumed recipe, not a measured plate.

The grid varies the raw dry urad dal per plate (40, 50, 60 g, with every other ingredient scaled by the same factor and rounded to 0.1 g) and the oil (15, 20, 25 g); the weights in the table above are the 50 g main case.

The two main cases side by side

These are the single examples used in the short answer; each follows from the tables above and from the weights in the cell.

What stands out in the numbers

• Less oil, part by part: the dry urad dal 162.0 kcal, the oil 88.4 kcal, the green chilli, ginger and curry leaves 4.2 kcal. Dry urad dal is 324.1 kcal per 100 g (IFCT B003) and the oil 884 kcal per 100 g (USDA 171410).
• More oil, part by part: the oil 176.8 kcal, the dry urad dal 162.0 kcal, the green chilli, ginger and curry leaves 4.2 kcal; against the less oil plate the oil is 88.4 kcal higher, and that is the whole difference between the plates.
• Size against oil: on the less oil plate the oil (5 to 15 g) moves it more than the dry urad dal weight (40 to 60 g): 88.4 kcal against 66.6 kcal; on the more oil plate the oil (15 to 25 g) moves it more than the dry urad dal weight (40 to 60 g): 88.4 kcal against 66.6 kcal. Each 5 g of oil is 44.2 kcal.
• Protein: about 11.8 g in either plate (the oil adds none).
• These are estimates: no medu vada record exists, the weights are ours, and a different weight of any ingredient in the tables above will change them.

Why these are estimates, not your medu vada

• No record exists for the dish. IFCT 2017 prints raw foods and no cooked dish, and the USDA SR Legacy searches found no medu vada record (0 results for medu vada, 0 results for vada). There is no SR Legacy vada record at all (0 results for vada).
• The weights are assumptions. No table prints how much of each ingredient or of the oil a plate takes; ours are stated so you can replace them.
• Raw weights. No table prints the weight of the medu vada after cooking, so the page counts raw weight and cannot give a per 100 g or per plate figure.
• Only the oil in the pan is counted. Oil used any other way, or left in the pan, is not counted unless it is in the oil weight.
• US data. The oil row is a US record; IFCT Table 1 has no oil row.
• Labels are printed, not judged. Calculated and Assumed zero are USDA's words on the record; we print them and draw no conclusion from them.

How to log it so the numbers hold

• Log it by parts. Weigh the raw ingredients once for your usual pan, and log the oil by its own weight (weight × figure ÷ 100); our ghee, oil and sugar guide has the spoon values.
• Say how much oil. It is an input this page cannot know; 5 g of oil is 44.2 kcal.
• Say how the pan was divided. The page gives one plate from raw weights; divide the pan's total by the portions you actually made.
• Say what else went in. Anything not in the listed ingredients is not counted.

Where NYUS fits (our app)

We make NYUS, so read this as ours. NYUS is an AI fitness and nutrition coach in early access on Android, with no ads and no data selling. You log foods yourself by searching 8,900+ Indian and global foods or by barcode, and a weekly check-in adjusts your calories, macros and step goal once enough is logged. Barcode coverage of Indian packaged foods is not complete, so search by name when a scan finds nothing.

What this page leaves out

• A measured calorie figure for medu vada as a dish: no primary record prints one, so every figure here is an estimate from stated weights.
• A calorie target, and any claim about what the ingredients or the oil do to your body: we have not looked up any for any person, so we give none. If you have a medical condition or are pregnant, ask your doctor or dietitian.
• Other versions and add-ins, such as onion, pepper, rice flour in the batter, vadas soaked in sambar or curd, and a restaurant or street-stall vada: not counted here; log them from their own rows (sambar is in our sambar and rasam guide, curd vadas in our dahi vada guide).
• Other fats: ghee, butter and other oils were not looked up for this page.
• Shop, restaurant and packaged medu vada: no table prints a weight or oil use, so we give no such figure; read the pack for packaged ones.
• Per 100 g and per plate figures: no table prints a cooked weight, so none is given here.
• Nutrients beyond energy, water, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, total sugars and sodium: not covered here.

Sources

• ICMR-NIN, Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (IFCT 2017), Table 1, per 100 g edible portion, mean of the regions shown (read from the PDF text 3 November 2026): B003 Black gram, dal (6 regions, 1356 kJ, PDF p. 42); G008 Chillies, green - all varieties (6 regions, 177 kJ, PDF p. 53); G014 Ginger, fresh (6 regions, 230 kJ, PDF p. 54); G010 Curry leaves (6 regions, 266 kJ, PDF p. 54). IFCT 2017 prints raw foods (its few cooked rows are boiled and omelette eggs and roasted vermicelli) and no medu vada, no fried dish and no cooking oil row (PDF text searched on 3 Nov for vada (2 matches, both inside an author name, no dish) and for idli, curd, dahi and yogurt (0 each); the rows used are B003 black gram dal (PDF p. 42), G008 green chilli (p. 53), G014 fresh ginger (p. 54) and G010 curry leaves (p. 54)).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 171410 (Oil, peanut, salad or cooking): Energy 884 kcal (3700 kJ), protein 0 g, total fat 100 g, carbohydrate by difference 0 g, fibre 0 g, total sugars 0 g, sodium 0 mg per 100 g; labels as printed: kcal Calculated, carbohydrate by difference no label shown, total sugars Assumed zero (Insignificant amount or not naturally occurring in a food, such as fiber in meat); portions used: 1 tsp (4.5 g); 1 cup (216 g); 1 tbsp (13.5 g) (read 3 November 2026).
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy searches run on 3 November 2026 (control 'roll dinner' 11 results): medu vada 0 results, vada 0 results.
• nyus.in, the NYUS landing page, read on 3 November 2026 for the app statements in the NYUS section and the CTA.

The ingredient weights, the scaling, the kJ to kcal conversions, the line values, the sums, the grids, the portion kcal, the rounding, the comparisons and every sentence starting "Our reading" are NYUS's own assumptions, arithmetic or opinion, not from USDA or IFCT. The totals add the rounded line values, so a total can differ from the unrounded sum by a rounding step. The IFCT values are the means printed in IFCT 2017 Table 1; the USDA values, data-type labels and Measures-list portions are exactly as shown on the USDA record page. The names in the first column are the tables' own names.

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