Dahi Vada | Dahi Bhalla
Dahi Vada or Dahi Bhalla are soft lentil fritters dunked in curd/yogurt and topped with lip-smacking spices, and chutneys.
Ingredients
Vada
- 1 Cup split Urad Dal
- 1 teaspoon Jeera/Cumin Seeds
- Salt
- Oil for Frying or in appe pan maethod
- ¼ Cup water if needed during grinding.
Assembling Dahi Vada
- 5 cup Yogurt/Curd Full Fat
- 1 tablespoon Roasted Cumin powder as required
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilly powder - as required, optional
- Green Coriander Chutney as required
- Imli Chutney as required
- Salt
Instructions
Making of Vada
- Clean and Rinse the urad dal.1 Cup split Urad Dal
- Soak the Urad Dal in enough water for 2-3 hours or overnight.
- Drain the water and grind the Urad dal to a smooth texture, but it should be a little grainy
- The batter should not be runny, we need a thick batter.
- In 1 Cup dal, around 2-3 tablespoon of water would be used. But this ratio can change.
- Incorporate air either by beating by hand (8-10 minutes) or using a whisk (2-3 minutes)
- The batter should double in size and change colour
- One can drop a small portion of batter in water to test.
- If it floats batter is ready.
- Now add Cumin seeds, salt, and mix.1 teaspoon Jeera/Cumin Seeds, Salt
- One can add green chilli, ginger, and coriander too.
Frying Method
- In a deep pan or a wok add the oil for frying.Oil
- Let the oil heat to medium heat.
- In the meantime, incorporate air into the batter by mixing it vigorously with a hand or a spoon in a clockwise direction.
- Drop a little batter in water, if it floats your batter is ready.
- Once the oil is medium hot, take about a tablespoon of batter in your fingers.
- If batter sticks to hand, wet your hands and then make vadas.
- Gently slide this in hot oil.
- Let this cook on medium to slow heat turning in between.
- Do not cook on high. If you cook on high the outside will cook faster and the inside would not get cooked and would be raw.
- They are done, when they are slightly golden brown all over.
- Remove it in a colander or a kitchen towel.
- Let them cool for 5-10 minutes.
Appe Pan Method
- Heat the appe pan on a slow to medium stove.
- Grease it with oil and add a few drops of oil in each of the molds.
- Add 1 tablespoon of batter in each.
- Cover and cook for a minute.
- After one minute, drizzle some oil on top and let it cook further for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes flip, cover and cook.
- Remove when they are golden brown all over.
Serving Dahi Vada
- Soak them in lukewarm +water for 10-15 minutes.¼ Cup water if needed during grinding.
- Soak only as much as you require. The remaining can be stored in the fridge and used as required.
- After 10-15 minutes, squeeze the vadas gently to remove excess water.
- Whisk the curd/yogurt using a whisker to a smooth consistency.5 cup Yogurt/Curd
- Add water if required to adjust the consistency of the yogurt as desired.
- In a bowl, add 2-3 Vadas.
- Now add about ½ Cup of yogurt.
- Alternatively, one can add all the vadas in the yogurt and let it soak for atleast 15 minutes.
- Garnish with salt, red chilly powder, Cumin powder, Green Coriander Chutney, and Imli Chutney.1 tablespoon Roasted Cumin powder, 1 teaspoon Red Chilly powder, Green Coriander Chutney, Imli Chutney, Salt
- Enjoy.
Notes
Make the vada as soon as possible once the dal is ground.
I have refrigerated the ground dal and then made vadas at times. They come out perfect. Just bring the dal to room temperature before starting the aeration process.
Fry in medium hot oil.
Soak only as much as you require. The remaining can be stored in the fridge and used as required.
If you want, you can also pass the ground dal through a sieve to help with texture.
If the batter doesn't float, whisk longer. That extra beating often makes the difference between soft vadas and tight ones.
Don't rush the pre-heat step in appe pan. If the pan isn't hot enough, the batter can stick and tear when you flip.
