Dahi vada is a popular Indian snack made from lentil dumplings soaked in creamy yogurt, seasoned with spices, and garnished with tangy chutneys and aromatic herbs. It offers a delightful blend of textures and flavors, making it a favorite among food enthusiasts.
Wash thoroughly under fresh water and then soak urad dal in twice the quantity of water. 3cups of water for 1.5 cups of urad dal. Let it soak for 6 hrs.
Drain the soaking water completely.
Transfer soaked urad dal into a grinder, blender or a food processor. Except for baking soda, add rest of the vada ingredients into the food processor. Add up to 3/4 cups of water (slowly while blending, and as needed). Grind it into a thick smooth paste.
In this case add as little water into the paste as possible. Just enough to run the blades to the food processor smoothly.
Scoop out lentil paste and transfer into a medium sized bowl. Add baking soda. Using either your hand or a whisk, whisk the paste vigorously, rotating your hand in one circular motion. Whisk for at least 5 minutes. Set aside.
This step is important in helping you make really light vadas. So it might feel a lot of work, so take breaks but don't skip it.
Heat oil in a wok or deep fryer, for frying.
Fill two bowls of water (halfway), one in a large serving bowl for dropping the vadas in, after frying and another in a smaller bowl for you to wet your hands in the next step..
Wet your palms or keep a piece of plastic wrap on one palm. Drop a dollop of urad dal batter (about the size of a lemon) on the palm. Shape into a circle.
Keep a small bowl with water handy.
Carefully slide the batter into the hot oil. Fry util they are deep golden brown in color, turning them a couple times.
Be very careful at this step. Wet palms make it very easy to slide the batter off the palm and into the oil. So dip your hand in water after every couple vadas to make sure they are wet enough.
Once done, fish vadas out of the oil and drop into the large bowl of water. Let the fried vadas soak in water for 3-5 minutes. Then lifting them one at a time, place them between your palms, very gently squeeze excess water out into the bowl. Transfer squeezed vada on to a serving platter.
Repeat this process for the rest of the batter and the same for the vadas after they are all fried.
In a mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients well, with a whisk. Add up to 1 cup of water depending on how thin you want the yogurt to be.
Typically yogurt should have the consistency of a pancake batter. But some people like them thicker OR thinner, so you decide what works best for you.
Pour over vadas that were set aside.
Garnish and enjoy!
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