Dahi Vada Lentil Fritters in Yogurt, is a popular dish across India via various names, such as Dahi Bhalla in Punjab, Dahi Vada in Maharashtra and Gujarat, Thayir Vadai in Tamil, Thayir Vada in Malayalam, Perugu Vada in Telegu, Mosaru Vade in Kannada, Dahi Bara in Odia and Doi Bora in Bengali!! Whew!! A truly popular snack item across the land of India. But my gut tells me this snack would have originated from Southern India, where Vada is ancient traditional cuisine, still very much appreciated and consumed in today’s world too! Thanks to this process of blogging, I now know so many ways to say yogurt and learnt my new word for the day!! This recipe talks about fresh as well as freezing the dahi vadas, enabling it to easily serve this popular item for dinner guests! It is interesting to know eating lentils and yogurt, is a highly healthy combination for the body to make protein and I am sure our ancestors had an inkling about it!
The dish looks colorful, can be prepared in advance and the yogurt gravy hides the round fritters or vadas. It can be enriched with cashews and fennel seeds, which gives a refreshing feel to it. A lot of talent is displayed by many, by the way the tamarind and green chutney are garnished on top,which could be a perfect line of green red, or one can go the famous Jackson Pollock way of painting and just splatter the same and have fun! This highly delicious combination cools the heat in the summer, and is a perfect menu item for Jains following strict diet regulations on aatham, chaudas or paryushan and it is quite filling too,. So one can easily have this as a complete meal too.
The trick to having really soft Dahi Vada lie in the type of lentil and the grinding of the lentils. Urad dal gives the softest taste, for sure, but using green and yellow dal also taste equally good, if grounded correctly. It has 3-4 garnishes on the top, but one can either use pre-made chutneys, or go the simpler way of using just red paprika powder , salt and cumin powder and it still tastes satisfying!
Everyone should give this a try, as this is definitely one healthy snack/meal that is simply satisfying to mind and body and it is not a wonder that this cashew flavored spongy dahi vadas are a family favorite at our end, specially as the summer rolls in!
DAHI VADA LENTIL FRITTERS IN YOGURT
Recipe makes 18-20 Dahi Vadas for 4-5 people
Prep time: 30-45 min
Pre-Soaking time 5-6 hours
Ingredients
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For the Vadas
- 2 cup urad dal split black lentils OR ( this is more popular)
- 1 cup split yellow moong dal and 1 cup split green dal (this is more healthy)
- 4 green chillies
- 1/4 cup broken cashews
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- salt to taste
- oil for frying
For the Yogurt Gravy
- 2 quarts of yogurt
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp Red chilli powder
- 1 1/2 tbsp Sugar(optional)
- 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
For the Garnishes
- 3-4 tbsp Green chutney
- 3-4 tbsp Tamarind Chutney
- 4-5 tbspChopped Coriander
- Salt
- Roasted cumin powder
- Red chilli powder
Method
For making the Vadas
- Wash the lentils thrice in plenty of water, and soak them in 8 cups of water for at least 6 hours.
- Drain almost all the water from the lentils and add salt, green chillies, and grind it to a batter having smooth paste consistency.
- Add cashews and fennel seeds and mix well.
- Heat oil for deep frying on high flame. Once heated reduced to medium flame.
- Using a cookie dough scooper or ice cream scooper, or even plain spoon, drop spoonful of batter for frying the vadas or fritters.
- If the grinding is correct,the vadas will turn over on its own, otherwise flip them when edges become golden.
- Once the vadas are fried, drain them on bounty paper to remove excess oil.
- At this stage, the vadas can be frozen for future use
- Or let it cool completely and soak a few of them in 7-8 cups of water for 10 minutes.
- If you have excess vadas, you can freeze them in an airtight container for future use.
Using Frozen Vadas
- Remove the vadas from the freezer, and heat 6-7 cups of water to boil. Once it boils put the frozen vadas and simmer for 8-10 and allow it to cool completely.
Using Fresh Vadas:
In 6-7 cups of water, put the freshly fried vadas and soak for half an hour or so. Remove from water and press the vadas in between palms and remove the excess water. If the vadas have turned out spongy, they will bounce back to a round ball shape- This is the test for sponginess or softness of vada.
For making the yogurt gravy
- Blend the yogurt using a whisk in a smooth consistency, and add salt, chlli powder, sugar, and black pepper.
Assembling the Dahi Vada Lentil Fritter in Yogurt
- Arrange the soaked vadas in a flat and deep dish, and you will notice the color of the fried vadas has also become lighter now.
- Pour the yogurt gravy on top. so that the entire vada is soaked in yogurt, and leave it for 10 min to chill in the refrigerator
- Add some more yogurt gravy before serving, and sprinkle all the garnishes on top and serve.
Tips
Frozen vadas, need to be soaked in hot water so as to regain its sponginess. If the fresh vadas are not that soft, one may try soaking in hot water for achieving softness.
If not using green chutney due to Jain Paryushan or aatham chaudas, one can spice it up with extra red chilli powder
Black Pepper powder addition is from the Dahi Bhalla version of Dahi Vada.
Instinct Factor
Frying the dahi vada and grinding the dahi vada batter comes with practice, so keep on trying, as I realized the perfect grinding level only recently!!Might explore with a bit of mint flavor next time.
Feel Factor
One gets protein, fibre, and yogurt and in this delicious dish of Dahi Vada Lentil Fritters in Yogurt. I have also found that vadas frozen and used later on are also equally tasty, so , definitely a dish that can be made once and savored over and over again. 5-6- Dahi Vadas make a complete meal and many happy with the cooling spiced yogurt on the top and soft spongy fritters on the inside and the garnish artwork on the top and not to forget the very many names you can call this dish by!! A real treat in heat of the summer!
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