Dahi Vada / Dahi Bhalla / Holi recipes

Dahi bhalla is an experience in itself begins with sinking your teeth into the soft spongy dumplings while the sweet chutney made with dates, tamarind and chaat masala adds sharp flavors along with the crunch of   pomegranate seeds everything is cleanly washed down with yogurt making you ready for the next bite. U can almost feel every bite going down  and cooling ur stomach instantly. 

Dahi vada is definitely a crowd pleasing fancy appetizer for all ages.

How to make perfect vada in a blender/ mixee ?
**Add the minimum amount of water required for your blender /mixee to  run then  compensate for all the water added by keeping some urad dal flour handy add as much as needed to thicken the dough to right consistency. Urad dal flour is available in the Indian store or u can freshly powder some using coffee grinder.

If the dough is watery u may not be able to shape so simply make ball shaped  dough and drop into hot oil as above or shape the vadas as shown below. moisten ur palm ,take a small ball of wet dough give a quick round shape as seen in pic dip ur thumb into the center of the dough and remove.Drop into hot oil carefully always towards the corner of the pan.

Ingredients for vada
Urad dal -  1/2 cup (whole ,washed)
Ginger- 1 inch piece
Green chili - 1 chopped
Rice flour- 1-2 tbsp (this makes the vada crisp and the batter thicker so you can shape it better)
Salt as per required

For soaking
Curd/ Yogurt -1/2 cup ( thick no so sour and beaten well)
Milk -1/2 cup +

For garnishing:
Dates and tamarind sweet chutney -1-2 tbsp
Green chutney - 1-2 tsp (I have not used here )
Coriander leaves chopped - 1 tbsp
Chaat masala -1/2 tsp
Pomegranate - 1-2 tbsp
Sev - 1-2 tbsp (I have not added here)

For making dahi vadas:
1.Soak urad dal for 2 hours and grind it to paste adding very little water just enough to grind into a thick paste add salt, ginger and green chili to it mix well many times with your hand this aerates the dough and makes it fluffy and light.

2.Heat oil in a deep pan enough for the vada to dip completely (check notes). Dip your hand in a bowl of water (this prevents the dough from sticking to ur palm so do not skip this)and scoop a table tennis ball size dough and drop into the medium hot oil. Fry 5-6 at a time not more than that. over crowding lowers the temperature and affects the cooking of vadas. Cook all sides to a nice golden brown color and remove on to a paper towel.

3. Heat the milk to warm and add the fried vadas. (forgot to heat up lol:))
Let the the vada soak in the milk for 10-15 minutes. Mix some water to the curd/yogurt make it slightly runny and add salt then the soaked vadas to it. Let it soak the yogurt for at least half an hour.
Add the remaining milk if any left so the yogurt is not really tart skip if u like it tart.

4. Drizzle the dates and tamarind chutney on top then yogurt  then dust the chaat masala , spread pomegranate seeds Sev and the coriander leaves and serve atleast two -three depending on the size of the dahi vada in individual ramekins / katoris.


Notes:
When there is enough oil it prevents the vada from sticking  or burning at the bottom and gives even coloring on the sides too.
Use fresh beaten curd for best results.

Hope you like it.
Meena