Dahi Vada

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Dahi Vada - the yummilicious and one of the most loved snack in Indian cuisine. .. Dahi Vada aka dahi Bhalla is an Indian super cool, delicious, lip smacking dish consisting of deep fried balls which are made from ground split white lentil aka urad dal, and served with a rich, creamy chilled yogurt sauce and garnished with Pomegranate arils, coriander leaves, roasted cumin and chili powder and topped with tamarind and green chutney..

Dahi Vada is my first love.. My food blog will be incomplete, if I skip to post this.. Trust me, try this method and you will never ever look anywhere for dahi vada recipe.

Dahi vada recipe is my one of the most confident recipe. I don't exactly remember my first preparation, but I still remember my journey of dahi vada started from my college days as in that period I use to make this recipe very religiously.. 

The success rate of this recipe purely depends on the batter preparation. First thing urad dal should be ground at lowest speed, and while grinding the urad dal, add water in small quantity and after that air should be nicely incorporated in this batter to make it very soft and fluffy... Our complete focus should be on batter preparation as perfect batter means light, soft, delicious and healthy dahi vada.

The second most important thing is curd.. Always go with fresh home made curd and don't add a single drop of water. Use of sweet curd makes the dahi vada super delicious and divine in taste.. The taste is so divine that it can be enjoyed without any accompaniment... means in this dahi vada preparation tamarind chutney and green chutney can be easily skipped.... But it's up to you how you want to go ahead and relish this preparation.

◼Let's get started 

☑Recipe details 

▫Dal soaking time 2-3 hours

▫Preparation time 10 - 12 minutes 

▫Cooking time 15-20 minutes 

▫Soaking of dahi vada in curd 2-3 hours

☑Ingredients required 

◾For Vada

▫1 cup urad dal

▫Salt to taste

▫350 ml oil for deep frying

◾Optional ingredients in vada preparation 

▫1 tbsp cashew nuts 

▫⅓ tbsp raisins 

▫½ tsp crushed black pepper

▫1-2 green chillies or as per taste 

▫5-6 curry leaves 

◾For Soaking - Curd

▫500 grams fresh home made curd

▫Powdered Sugar - to taste

▫Salt to taste

◾Accompaniments and garnish

▫Pinch of roasted cumin and 

▫fennel powder

▫ Pinch of red chilly powder 

▫Coriander leaves for garnish

▫Pomegranate arils

▫Tamarind chutney 

▫Green chutney 

☑Method 1 Mise en place

✔Soaking and Grinding of Urad dal 

◾Urad dal - Washed - soaked for 2-3 hours - drain the water - rinse again for 3-5 times - add salt and grind to a smooth paste using ⅓ cup water. (50-60ml)

✔ Whisk the batter 

◾Whisk the batter for 3-5 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Whisk it with your hand or with a whisk spoon by rotating your hand in a circular motion in one direction, as the more air we incorporate, it will become very soft and spongy. Mix well till the batter is light and fluffy Add cashew nuts, raisins, green chillies, crushed curry leaves and crushed peppercorns and whisk once more for a minute or two.

☑Step 2 Deep frying 

◾Heat oil in a heavy bottomed deep frying pan
.

◾With the help of two spoons, give round shape to batter and drop that in hot oil.. If spoons are not comfortable to you, you can use your hands, take a spoonful of batter, give shape and drop that carefully in hot oil. 

◾Deep fry them till it turns light golden brown.

◾ Allow them to cool down completely and then soak them in water for 5-10 minutes. 

◾ And then press them in your palms, take out excess water , keep it aside until called for.

☑Step 3 Whisk Curd and Soak vadas

◾Take curd in a mixing bowl, add powdered sugar and salt to taste... whisk curd until smooth and creamy.

◾ Dip these Vadas and keep them in refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours as nicely soaked vada taste absolutely divine. 

☑Step 4 Serving Suggestion

◾And at the time of serving, pour tamarind and green chutney, sprinkle cumin powder, red chilly powder, and serve chilled garnished with Pomegranate arils and coriander leaves.