Baked Dahi Vada Recipes

DAHI VADA RECIPE | DAHI BHALLA

Steps:

• Wash urad dal a few times and soak for at least 4 to 6 hours. Also chill half cup water in the fridge for blending the dal.
• Pour 1 cup water to a pot and heat it. Next put in tamarind, jaggery and dates if using. Simmer all these for 4 to 5 mins until the tamarind turns soft and completely mushy.
• Add red chili powder, salt, cumin powder, fennel powder, dry ginger powder and coriander powder or garam masala. Mix well and boil this for 2 minutes until the aroma of spices comes out. If the mixture becomes too thick, pour ¼ cup hot water.
• Taste this and add more jaggery & salt if desired. Cool & blend it. Pass through a sieve to a wide bowl. Optional - If you want you can temper this. Heat a teaspoon of oil or ghee. Add hing and then pour the tamarind chutney. Simmer for 2 to 3 mins until bubbling hot & thick. Cool this completely.
• Transfer this to a dry glass or ceramic jar. Store this in fridge and use up within 4 to 6 weeks.
• Add all the ingredients mentioned for green chutney to a blender jar and make a fine paste using very little water or as needed.
• You can also use little fried gram/ bhuna chana dal for binding. This avoids water separating from the solids in the chutney.
• Rinse dal a few times and drain the water completely. Add it to a blender jar with cumin, salt, green chili, ginger and hing.
• Then pour 2 tbsp chilled water and grind for 1 minute. Scrape the sides, repeat blending adding 1 tbsp water each time only as needed until the batter turns thick, fluffy and light. Avoid adding too much water as it makes the batter runny. We want a thick & fluffy batter here.
• When the batter is done, you will see it turns lighter in color as well in texture. This is the indication it is done. Also while blending make sure the batter does not become hot as it may impart a bitter taste to the vadas. Also vadas can become dense.
• Remove the batter to a bowl. Beat it well for 1 min in one direction with your hand or whisk to aerate the batter.
• Test if the consistency & texture is right, pour 1 cup water to a small bowl and drop ¼ tsp batter to the water. The batter has to float meaning it has aerated well else blend it for a little longer and then aerate again by beating.
• Add cashews to the batter if using & mix well.
• Prepare a bowl with 2 to 3 cups water and ½ teaspoon salt. Keep this aside on the kitchen counter.
• Pour oil to a kadai and heat it on a medium flame. The oil has to be hot enough but not smoking hot. To check the right temperature, drop a small portion of batter to the oil, it has to rise without the batter turning brown.
• Grease your fingers or tablespoon or a fruit scooper. Take small portions of the batter and gently drop into the oil.
• Let them fry on a medium heat for 3 minutes and then stir them. Continue to fry until golden and crisp. Remove to a steel colander or plate.
• Immediately drop the hot fried vadas to the bowl of water. Rest them for 15 to 20 mins, rotating them with a spoon in between. Timing may vary depending on the size of the vadas.
• While these rest fry the next batch of vadas. Repeat the same process of soaking them in water.
• Add 2½ cups yogurt, a tbsp of powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon salt to a large wide bowl (big enough to hold all your vadas). Beat well with a whisk until smooth. It should not be too thick like greek yogurt and not very runny. Taste test and adjust salt.
• Gently press down the vadas in between spatulas or your palms one after the other to remove most of the water. Drop these to the bowl of yogurt & ensure all of the vadas are dunked in the yogurt well.
• Cover this and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This is when the dahi vadas soak up a bit of yogurt and flavor.
• They will be softer by 2 hours. If you like more yogurt, then whisk another half cup yogurt with sugar and salt. Pour that as well. Transfer the dahi vadas to serving tray or plates.
• Top with a generous amounts of green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney.
• Sprinkle cumin powder, chaat masala, black salt and red chili powder. Garnish with coriander leaves. Adjust the quantity of chutneys, chaat masala, cumin powder and red chili powder to suit your taste.
• Serve dahi vada immediately after you sprinkle the spice powders.

DAHI VADA RECIPE - LENTIL DUMPLINGS IN A SWEET AND SPICY YOGURT

Steps:

• To begin making the Dahi Vada Recipe, we have to first soak the urad lentil for 2 hours in 2 cups of water. Grind the lentil with salt adding just enough water to make into a thick and smooth batter.
• Preheat the Aebleskiver Pan also known as the Kuzhi Paniyaram pan with a pinch of oil on each cavity. Add a dollop of the lentil batter into each cavity, cover the pan and allow it to steam in medium heat.
• You could optionally add a little more oil into each cavity to get a slightly more crispy texture. Once the vada looks steamed from the top, flip the vada over and allow it to turn into a golden brown on both sides. Repeat the above process with the remaining portions of the batter.
• Now heat a big broad pot of water; once it has reached the boiling point, turn off heat. Add the pan fried vada's to the hot water. Don't add too many at a time.
• Give enough space for the vada's to breathe, as they tend to expand more in water. Let the vada's soak in water for about 5 minutes or until have turned soft. Once all the vada's are soaked and softened scoop out draining any excess water, without squeezing them.
• Set them aside in a serving dish. The process of soaking the vada's in water makes them soft, fluffy and juicy at the same time making it porous.
• Now, whisk the yogurt, black salt, chaat masala, red chilli powder, cumin powder, salt and sugar.
• Pour the yogurt mixture evenly over the vada's, covering them completely. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.
• Serve a couple of Dahi Vada's in an individual serving bowl like a dessert bowl.
• Drizzle half a teaspoon of the Khajur Imli ki Chutney, half a teaspoon of Dhania Pudina Ki Chutney and a little more chaat masala optionally over the Dahi Vada's for a delicious tasting snack.

NO FRY DAHI VADA

Steps:

• Rinse urad daal thoroughly with water 2-3 times. Soak it in water for 4-6 hours.
• Drain all the water out. Blend it to a smooth paste using a few spoons of water. Add green chilies and fresh ginger while grinding the soaked lentils. The consistency should be similar to that of thick cake batter, a easy test to check the consistency is to drop a little batter in the water and make sure it floats on the water. Add salt and lightly beat the batter with a hand blender to aerate it. This makes the vada's light and fluffy.
• Heat the paniyaram pan on medium low heat. Add a few drops of oil in each round section and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of batter in each section. Cover the pan with a lid. Let it cook for 4-5 mins on low heat until the vada's are lightly golden on the bottom. Then slowly flip them over using a chopstick or spoon and cook the other side for another 3-4 mins.
• Take a big bowl with 3 cups of water. Slowly remove the vadas from the pan and immerse them in the water. Continue making another batch of vadas while the first batch is soaking in the water.
• In another bowl whisk yogurt, add 1/2 cup of water, salt and sugar and bring the yogurt to a smooth, pourable consistency. Take the vadas from the water one at a time and gently squeeze all the water by pressing them on the palm of your hands. Keep them in a serving platter.
• Pour 1 cup of the prepared yogurt over the vadas. Continue cooking, dunking them in water, squeezing the water out, and pouring yogurt over them for the rest of the batter. The serving platter can then be refrigerated for up to a week or until you are ready to serve.
• To serve this dish, take 3-4 vadas with some yogurt in a plate. Add a tablespoon of tamarind-date chutney. Sprinkle some red chili powder, ground cumin, and ground coriander. Spread a spoonful of the crunchy thin sev and garnish with cilantro. Cilantro and thin sev are optional but add a good texture and flavor to the dish.