Dahi Vada

I enjoy dahi vadas. Back home, my Ma and her friend Aunty N would make the vadas with a filling - it was so good. I still haven't mastered how to make a whole in the center of the Vadas - believe me it is a learning in progress.

My recipe for the Dahi vadas has been adapted in part from my Ma's version and my elder sis D's version.



1 cup urad dal, picked, washed and soaked overnight in warm water
2 green chilli, finely chopped
4 cups yogurt + 1 cup
1 tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of Hing (Asafoetida)
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp Tamarind-Date chutney (available in the Indian grocery stores)
1 tbsp each of chopped coriander and mint leaves
Oil

Grind the urad dal with little water to a smooth paste. Add the chopped green chillies, hing and salt and mix.

Heat oil in a pan. Take about a tbsp of batter in your palm and roll it into a ball. Flatten it slightly and drop the batter carefully into the hot oil. Fry till golden. Remove and keep on Paper towel to drain off the extra oil.

Fill a pan with water and soak the vadas in it for about 2-3 minutes. In another pan, mix 1 cup yogurt with water to make a mix that is thinner or almost of buttermilk consistency. Squeeze the vadas gently to drain out the water and put them in this yogurt-water mix for a minute. Squeeze gently to remove water.



Whisk yogurt, salt, sugar and red chilli powder together till smotth. If the consistency is thick and just a little water. Now place the vadas carefully, covering them with yogurt. Garnish with a little red chilli powder, a little tamarind-date chutney and the coriander-mint leaves. Enjoy !!