Products
Dahi Vada
December 27th, 2007 filed under Appetizers, Chaat
Dahi Vadas are lentil dumplings topped with a spicy savory yogurt and tamarind chutney. These are great as a side dish for a formal dinner or served as a chaat.
Makes about 30.
Ingredients:
For Vadas:
- 3/4 cup washed Moong dal
- 1/4 cup washed Urad dal
- Oil to fry
For Garnish:
- 1 1/2 cup yogurt
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder
- 1/2 teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder
- 3 tablespoons tamarind chutney
Method:
To make the Vadas:
- Mix both dals and wash several times until the water appears clear.
- Soak dal in 4 cups of water for at least six hours.
- Drain the water and blend dal to very creamy texture. Just using enough water as needed to blend. Using too much water while blending dal will not be creamy in texture.
- Whip dal batter using a spoon in a circular motion for about two to three minutes until batter will become light and fluffy. If needed add few spoons of water.
- To fry the vadas, use a flat frying pan. Do not put more than 1/2 inch of oil in the frying pan.
- Place the heat on medium high. To check if oil is ready put a little batter into the oil, oil will sizzle and batter should start expending upwards slowly without changing color.
- Place about 1 tablespoon of batter into the oil. Batter should not be covered with oil. This will allow the vada to expand. The vada will be softer if they are shallow fried.
- Fry the vadas in small batches. Fry the vada until thew are golden brown all around.
- After you have made all of the vadas, place the vadas in luke warm water and soak for about 20 minutes.
- Next squeeze the vadas gently to take out the water, be careful not to break the vadas.
To make Yogurt topping and Garnish:
- Take two cups of yogurt and mix until very smooth. Use some milk as needed to make the consistency similar to pancake batter or lassi. Add about 1 teaspoon of salt or as needed.
- Soak all the vadas in the yogurt batter for at least twenty minutes, giving the vadas time to absorb the yogurt.
- Slowly pick up each vada and transfer into a serving dish, pouring a few spoons of extra yogurt all over the vadas.
- Just before serving, sprinkle some salt as needed, ground roasted cumin seeds, red chilly powder and finish off with a drizzle of tamarind chutney.
Variations:
- Change the proportions of dal or make vadas with just urad dal or just with moong dal.
- As an alternative, you can add chopped green chilies and crushed coriander seeds to the dal batter, just before you start frying the vadas.
- Instead of serving with tamarind chutney, you can add some chopped cilantro over the dahi vadas.
- You can also make the vadas very small and serve as a Raita dish.
- If you are vegan, you can also soak the vadas in tamarind chutney instead of yogurt and sprinkle some chopped cilantro.
Suggestions:
You can also make the dahi vadas in advance and freeze them before soaking in the water. When ready to use, take as many as needed out and soak in hot water for a few minutes. Next, change the water to room temperature and soak for 20 minutes. Now you can prepare and serve them the usual way.
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All Gujarati’s always add Sugar in everything.
hi aunty, i have been prepairing dahi vada with only urd dal they used to be bit hard also , i never used to whip the batter so
much, today i will try your recepe with 3/4 urd and 1/3 moong.your recipe sounds good.
Hello Aunty,
Made dahi vadas this evening however they were a little rubbery and a few weren’t cooked inside.I had used only Urad dal.Where do u think I went wrong?
Please advice.
Rachel
You need to fry them longer if they are still uncooked in the center.
Hi, I came across your site while hunting for pictures of Dahi Vada, so I could put up my own recipe. I’ve linked the pic to your site, and am also linking up to this post from my own.
I’ll definitely try out the dahi-free dahi vada sometime, sounds lovely!
Hi Auntiji
I tried your recipe..i had a small problem..my batter came out little thin..it was my mistake. So I added some rice flour to make it thick, vada came out ok, we enjoyed. I was happy for not throwing whole batter. After all cooking is trying new things.:)
Thank you.
Thanks for the reply Falguni. It’s helpful to know where people are from and how it influences their cooking. Knowing you are Gujarati explains the sugar.
I cook in the style of U.P. mostly, but I like to know other regional styles also.
hi jaya,
in the north indian style dahi vadas, no sugar is added to yogurt (dahi)
we are gujaratis – both my mother & m-i-l add powdered sugar to taste to the yogurt. they also do a vaghaar on the yogurt after whipping it. place little oil in a pan, add jeera, green chilli pieces, kadhipatta & add this vaghaar to the yogurt.
dahi gets a sweet flavor because of sugar & vaghaar adds a very nice fragrance & spice to the dahi.
then this dahi is used to top on dahi vadas.
If you want to try this, when you make dahi vadas next time, you can try this on a cupful of dahi & taste the difference between both the yogurt tastes.
My family has tasted both the yogurts & they like the yogurt that has the vaghaar & is sweet.
I have never heard of putting powdered sugar with dahi vadas to make them sweet. Is this Indian style or from elsewhere you got this idea?
hi,
if you like dahi vadas that are lot more moist & dahi (yogurt) flavored…dip vadas in the dahi (yogurt) well in advance.
If you are going to have them as an evening dessert or dinner side-dish, then dip the vadas in ample yogurt in the morning & place the bowl in the refrigerator. By evening, the vadas will soak lot more yogurt & they will be moist & yogurt flavored right to the core. The toppings can be done before serving.
If you like to serve it as a sweet dish, then add powdered sugar to taste to the whipped yogurt to make the yogurt taste little sweeter than its fresh bland taste.
then dip the vadas in this sweet yogurt & top with dhania & tamarind sweet n sour chutneys, sprinkle little salt, red chilli powder, pepper powder, jeera powder as per flavors that your family enjoys..
hi aunty ,
just wanted to wish u a very HAPPY DIWALI
love