Dahi Vada Recipe (Dahi Bhalla)

Dahi Vada or Dahi Bhalla is a popular North Indian dish made of deep fried lentil balls, dunked in yogurt, mint chutney and sweet chutney.

Recipe Source Link:https://www.mygingergarlickitchen.com/dahi-vada-recipe/

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RECIPE INGREDIENTS

» Ingredients For Vada

• 1 cup urad dal (split & dehusked black gram lentils )
• Oil for frying
• 1-2 tablespoons raisins
• 1-2 tablespoons cashews, chopped
• Salt, to taste
• 1-2 small-sized green chilies, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped or grated
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• Water

» Ingredients For Soaking Vada

• Warm water
• Salt, to taste
• 1 teaspoon of roasted cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of asafoetida (hing)

» Ingredients for chaat wala dahi (seasoned yogurt)

• 500 grams thick yogurt, chilled
• 1/2 tsp black salt
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar, or as per taste

» Ingredients for Dahi Vada:

• Soaked vadas
• Chaat wala dahi (seasoned yogurt)
• Roasted cumin (jeera) powder
• Red chili powder
• Black salt
• 1/4 cup tamarind date chutney
• 1/4 cup mint-coriander chutney
• Sev or bhujia

RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS

» Soaking lentils

1. Rinse the urad dal (lentils) in water 3 to 4 times or until the water becomes clear. Now, soak the rinsed dal in enough water for 5 hours or overnight.

» Making seasoned yogurt (chaat wala dahi)

1. Add chilled yogurt to a mixing bowl. Also, add granulated sugar and salt to it. Whisk the yogurt (curd) until everything is smooth and well combined. You can also add 1/4 cup of water if you want thinner dahi. Now refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

» Making Vada Batter

1. After 5 hours, drain the water from the soaked lentils and add them to a blender or mixer grinder, and pulse to make a thick and smooth batter. The batter should be thick, but not too thick, so you can add 1-2 tablespoons of water if required. Just make sure it does not have a pouring consistency.
2. Transfer the lentil batter to a large mixing bowl. Now, using your fingers or a wired whisk, beat it briskly in one direction for about 6-7 minutes or until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. The fluffier mixture makes the soft and fluffy vadas. You can check the doneness of the batter by flipping the bowl. Flip the bowl, and if the batter sticks to the bowl, then it is ready.
3. Now add chopped green chilies, chopped ginger, cumin seeds, raisins, chopped cashews, and salt to it. Gently whisk again until well combined. Keep it aside.

» Deep Frying Vada

1. Heat oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, turn the heat to medium. Now, dip your fingers (or a spoon) in the cold water, scoop the batter and shape the dal mixture into small balls and then carefully drop it into the hot oil. Drop more vadas in oil, keeping some distance. You can fry about 9-10 vadas in the wide pan. Do not overcrowd the pan while frying vadas. This is because vadas will increase in size while deep frying, so make sure to keep enough space for them to expand in the pan.
2. Turn the vadas gently when they are fried from the bottom and sides. Deep fry them until they become lightly golden and crispy from all the sides.
3. Remove the fried vadas from the pan and place them on a kitchen tissue-lined plate. Fry vadas until all the batter is used up. Keep them aside to cool for 10-12 minutes.

» Soaking Vadas

1. In another mixing bowl, add warm water. Now add fried vadas to the water and let them soak for about 10 minutes.
2. Now transfer vadas to another bowl. After that, add enough lukewarm water to another mixing bowl. This double soaking will remove excess oil and help vadas soak in water and increase in size. Also add salt, asafoetida, and roasted cumin powder. Gently stir the vadas in the water and set them aside to absorb for 10-15 minutes. After soaking and expanding, vadas would become lighter in color and bigger in size.

» Assembling Dahi Vada

1. Take out the soaked vadas from the water, place them between palms and squeeze out excess water. Place these soaked vadas on a serving plate.
2. Pour a generous amount of seasoned yogurt, making sure you are covering every vada. Drizzle the vadas with tamarind date chutney, mint-coriander chutney.
3. Then sprinkle with roasted cumin (jeera) powder, red chili powder, and black salt over the vadas. Top with some sev or bhujia. Your dahi vada or dahi vada (Dahi Bhalla) is ready, serve it chilled.

RECIPE NOTES

1. Beating the batter - To get the fluffy and soft vadas, the batter should be aerated. Always beat the batter in one direction after pulsing to incorporate the air into the batter. You can whisk the batter using your hands, stand mixer, or a hand mixer. If you are planning to double the recipe, using an electric beater or stand mixer would be a good choice.
2. Batter consistency - The batter should be thick but of dropping consistency. So if you have to add the water, then add only a little at a time.
3. Equal sized vada - When frying vadas, make sure to slide equal portions of batter, or the vadas will have different sizes. And the frying time will vary with the different sized vadas. Always fry vadas on medium heat to get evenly cooked vadas with a perfectly golden and crispy layer.
4. Use gluten-free asafoetida (hing) to make it gluten-free. You can also skip adding asafoetida.