DAHI VADA

Crispy and crunchy lentil fritters medu vada, are soaked in tempered creamy curd and topped with red chilli powder and cumin powder. This is a South Indian variation of dahi vada. It is very different in taste than the North Indian dahi vada. Mainly as sweet chutney and green chutney is not added.

Ingredients:

For making Vada

· Urad dal – 1 cup

· Semolina – 1 tbsp

· Finely chopped curry leaves – 1 tbsp

· Finely chopped green chillies – 3-4

· Finely chopped ginger – 1 tsp

· Chopped Coconut pieces – 2 tbsp

· Finely chopped coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

· Black pepper – ¼ tsp (slightly crushed)

· Hing – ½ tsp

· Salt

· Oil for frying

For making the Curd Mixture

· Curd – 500-600 gms

· Water

· Sugar (add as per your preference)

· Oil - 2 tsp

· Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp

· Broken dry red chilli – 2- 3

· Curry Leaves

· Salt - 1 tsp

To make the buttermilk for soaking

· Curd - 1 tbsp

· Water - 2 Cups

For Serving:

· Chopped Coriander Leaves

· Red chilli Powder

· Cumin Powder

Method:

For making Vada

· Wash the udid dal at least 2-3 times in water and then soak it in approx. 3 cups water for 3-4 hours.

· Grind the soaked udid dal to a smooth batter using very less water. Grind until the batter is fluffy and have smooth texture. Add few teaspoons of cold water while grinding. Don’t add too much water while grinding. While grinding, scrap the sides with a spatula and sprinkle water as needed to grind it smoothly. Batter should be thick in consistency.

· Now pour this in a bowl, and beat the mixture with hands in one direction for 2-3 minutes.

· This will make the batter fluffy, now add semolina and other ingredients. Give it a good mix.

· In a kadai (wok) or pan heat oil for deep frying. Keep the heat to medium.

· Take a bowl with little water. Apply some water from the bowl on both left palm. Take some batter in your left palm from the bowl. Give it a round shape by moving it around using right hand. With your index finger make a hole in the center.

· Once the oil becomes hot, slide the vada gently and carefully into the hot oil. You can add 4-5 vadas at one time. The quantity also depends upon the pan.

· You can also use banana leaves or zip lock bags to shape the medu vada.

· Once the vada is slightly golden then gently turn over and continue to fry. Fry them till crisp and golden in colour.

· The oil should not be very hot. We want the vadas to cook properly from inside. Very hot oil will quickly brown the vadas from outside but they will remain uncooked from inside. Less hot oil will make the medu vada to absorb too much oil. Even if the batter is thin then also the medu vadas will absorb too much oil. So, remember these tips while making these vadas.

· You can serve the medu vada hot with sambar and coconut chutney OR you can go ahead in making Dahi vadas.

· Take curd in a bowl and whisk it until smooth by adding a little water. Add sugar and salt, give it a good mix. Add oil to a tempering pan and add cumin seeds, red chilies and curry leaves. Sauté and pour this tempering on the curd, mix well.

· Keep it aside, you can refrigerate if you like to have it chilled.

· In another bowl, add curd and water. Mix well and keep this buttermilk aside for soaking the vadas.

· Once the vadas are fried you can soak these in the buttermilk for 30-35 minutes.

· Remove them and place them on a serving plate. First, pour the curd mixture over the vadas, then sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves, red chili powder and cumin powder.

· Dahi Vada is ready to be served.