Dahi Vada Chaat | Soft Dahi Bhalla Recipe
Dahi Vada are soft lentil dumplings made from lentils such as urad dal with a bit of moong dal. These vada are fried and then soaked in water. After sometime the water is squeezed out and then the vada are immersed in a yogurt bath and drizzled with spices and chutneys.
Ingredients
For Vada Batter
- 1 cup urad dal soaked overnight or for 5-6 hours at least
- ¼ cup moong dal split soaked overnight or for 5-6 hours at least
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 1 green chilli chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 pinch asafoetida hing
- Salt as needed
- ¼ to ½ cup water or add as needed
- 8 to 10 cashewnuts chopped
- 1 tablespoon raisins chopped
Other Ingredients
- 2 cups or more yogurt
- ½ to 1 teaspoon chaat masala or as required
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne add as needed
- 1 teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper pdr
- salt add as required
- water to slightly dilute the yoghurt
- oil for frying dahi vadas
For Garnish
- A few pomegranate arils
- A few chopped coriander leaves (cilantro)
- Green Coriander Chutney as needed
- Sweet Tamarind Chutney as needed
Instructions
Soaking (Preparations done before)
- Rinse the both lentils very well at least 3 times in water.
- Soak the lentils in enough water overnight or for 5 to 6 hours.
Grinding
- Drain all the water and add the lentils in a blender.
- Add chopped green chilies, chopped ginger and cumin seeds.
- Add water in parts and grind to a smooth thick or medium-thick batter.
- Transfer the ground batter into a bowl.
Aerating the batter
- Just before frying, add salt and asafetida.
- Stir the batter briskly with the help of fork or electric beater for a couple of minutes. This aerates the batter making it lighter.
- We need to work in batches because the batter must be beaten just before the vada are fried.
- For this transfer a part of the batter into another bowl.
- To this add raisins and chopped cashew nuts. Combine well.
Frying Vada
- Heat a kadai or pan with oil for deep frying.
- When the oil is medium hot, add spoonfuls of the batter in the oil.
- The batter should sizzle and come up on the surface of oil swiftly and steadily
- When you see the vada becoming pale golden from the base and sides, you can turn them.
- Fry the vada until they become golden and crisp. Place on absorbent paper.
- Do not overcrowd the pan while frying.
- To fry the second batch, again beat the batter and add cashew nuts and raisins and proceed with frying.
- Let the vada sit for sometime before proceeding for the next step.
Soaking the fried Vada
- In another bowl take water take some lukewarm water.
- Immerse all the vada in the lukewarm water. Ideally soak for an hour. If an a hurry, fifteen minutes could be fine.
- The vada will release some of the oil and absorb water increasing a bit in size with a color change.
- Place these vada in a serving bowl or tray.
- Whisk curd (yogurt) until smooth. Add salt and some cumin powder.
- Take each vada and flatten and press between your palms to remove the water. Be gentle.
- Dip each vada into the whisked yoghurt and place it in a serving dish or a container for refrigerating.
- Pour more whisked yoghurt over all the vada evenly all over covering them.
- Refrigerate for an hour or two before serving.
Serving and Garnishing
- Transfer required quantity of vada into serving dish.
- Pour more whisked yogurt over the vada. Sprinkle a few pinches of the spice powders.
- Top with the green chutney and tamarind chutney as needed.
- Lastly, garnish with pomegranate arils and coriander leaves.
Storage
- The remaining vada soaked in yoghurt can stay good in the fridge for 1-2 days.
- The lentil dumplings can be made in advance and frozen before assembling the complete dish. Before serving, soak the vada in warm water till soft and spongy
- Squeeze out the water, add the whisked yoghurt and proceed as mentioned above.
Notes
- Soak the lentils well overnight or at least 5-6 hours.
- Use minimum water for grinding the lentils to a smooth consistency.
- Beating the dumpling /vada well is key to soft and fluffy vada.
- The temperature of the oil should not be very high or low. It should be such that the vada are cooked properly from their inside and are crisp and golden brown from outside.
- Use fresh yoghurt.
- To make a no garlic version dahi vada, just skip the garlic in the green coriander chutney.