Dahi Vada/Bhalla

Guest post by Dhvani

Dear Followers,

Dahi Vada is my second-most favourite food in the world (getting a little too excited 😛 ), trailing closely behind Pani Puri! When I was living away from home during university, my mom used to especially make this dish on Friday evenings, to entice me to come home early. Through years of experience in eating, a lot of learning from my Mom, and a bit of experience in cooking (*wink wink*), I think I’ve perfected the recipe for this dish. A speciality about the way my Mom and I make it is that we make the vadas without frying, using a non-stick Paniyaram pan – minimal oil use! Also, this recipe is perfect for those who are on healthy diets, as the lentils (dals) used make this dish high in protein! I could go on and on about the great benefits and mouth-watering flavour of this dish, so to spare you from my lecture, here’s the recipe..
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Product recommended:
Appam patra

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Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup split moong dal
1 cup urad dal
1 tablespoon ginger-chilli paste
Salt and ground black pepper
½ cup oil

Serve with (per plate):

1 cup of yogurt (liquid)
1-2 tbsp. date tamarind chutney
Pinch of chilli powder
Pinch of black salt
Pinch of cumin powder

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, wash both the dals with water a couple of times, and soak it in warm water for 3-4 hours. Once the dal size has doubled, grind the mixture to a fine gradient using a mixer, keeping the amount of water used to grind minimal. Add ginger-chilli paste, salt, and black pepper to the ground dal mixture and mix well while whisking with spatula. It will add the air to the batter. Optional: If you have time, set this mixture aside for 1-2 hours.

2. Add a drop of oil to each hole of the Paniyaram pan to grease it. Pre-heat the pan on medium heat on the stove. Once the pan is hot, whisk the batter once again, then pour the mixture into each hole and let it cook for 5 minutes. After 5 mins, flip each ball over upside down, add another drop of oil to each hole, and cook it for another 3-4 mins, until the whole ball (or vada) is golden and crisp. If you don’t have this pan, you can fry it too.

3. Once the vadas are cooked, take them out of the pan and soak them in the pot filled with water for about 10-15 mins. This makes the vadas soft and get rid of most of the oil that was used while cooking them. Once soft, gently squeeze the water out of the vadas. The vadas are ready to be served!

4. These vadas can be enjoyed with or without soaking, whatever is your preference. Serve these vadas by dipping them in yogurt and adding date tamarind chutney, chili powder, cumin powder, and black salt, as per your taste.

This dish is super-delicious and it’s easy to get the kids to eat it too! Try it for yourself!

Leave a comment or let me know if you have any question. Until next time!

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