Soft Juicy melt in the mouth Mmmm….How I adore them!
My all time fav snack, that has the official status of an entree in our house! I can never have enough of them…always make a big batch so that I can freeze for the next time the dahi vada craving strikes again!! One of the few things I learnt just for ‘ME’ 🙂
A wonderful contrast of textures and flavors…spongy udad dal vadas, soaked in creamy dahi, drizzled with khatti- mithi Imli ki chutney, it’s the perfect accompaniment to any chaat menu!
And for those (like me) who like Dahi Vadas served with a southern flair…temper the soaked dahi vadas with a delicious chaunk of mustard leaves n curry leaves…Mmmm!
Method:
Soak udad daal for 2-3 hours. Grind to a paste along with some ginger & green chillies using as little water as possible. I like the final paste to have slight texture and not be entirely smooth. Beat ground daal using an egg beater till light and fluffy and it almost doubles in volume! Spread spoonfuls of daal on oiled plastic bag, dip the index finger of your free hand in water, and make a hole in the middle of the vada. Now dip all the fingers of your free hand in water to wet them. Next slide the vada from the plastic to the fingers of your wet free hand, and from there into the oil. Repeat this process for each vada. Fry them in medium hot oil and keep aside until cool.
Dip in salted water for 20-25 minutes. Press and remove all water.
Now soak in dahi seasoned with…salt/kala namak
Garnish with coarsely pounded roasted jeera pwdr and red chilli pwdr. Chill and serve along with tangy imli ki chutney!
And to serve them, South Indian style…
Skip the jeera, lal mirch or imli ki chutney for this one. Instead..Prepare a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, some minced ginger and sliced green chillies. Drizzle this chaunk over the soaked dahi vadas…sprinkle with some crunchy boondi and Enjoy!
PS: you may also add a tbsp of grated coconut to the dahi in which the vadas are soaked.
For detailed step by step process for making vadas
The pics that now follow, show batter with onions and chillies, however for this recipe we don’t add either of them. The pics are posted here just to illustrate the step by step methodology of making the vadas.
Spread a spoonful of the ground daal on oiled plastic bag,
dip the index finger of your free hand in water, and make a hole in the middle of the vada.
Now dip all the fingers of your free hand in water to wet them.
Next slide the vada from the plastic to the fingers of your wet free hand,
and from there into the oil.
Repeat this process for each vada. Fry them in medium hot oil and keep aside until cool.
Dip in salted water for 20-25 minutes.
Press and remove all water. Keep aside.
Note:
For those health conscious…Try making Healthy No-Fry Dahi ki Pakori in the Appe/ Paniyaram pan, you’ll be surprised at how good the results are!
Love this :).
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Love the pictures!! I had a quick question – What makes the vada spongy? Is it the egg beater step after grinding? also no fermentation required, correct?
Yessss….you got that right! 🙂
Yes it’s the egg beater step!
Did you add baking soda
No. There’s no need.
Never add baking soda!
awesome…will try soon
Hi Ruchi,
I have an issue in making hole in middle of the vadas. In the process of making those holes i tend to diluting my vadas. So Can you Please let me know any workaround of making those holes in the vadas
Thanks!
Try grinding the dal with as little water as you can!