Dahi Vada (दही बड़ा) is a popular Indian snack and is one of my absolute favourite. Its extremely popular in north of India, though known across the India. Most of the lavish celebrations will include dahi vada in it. Here is my recipe of soft dahi vada aka dahi bhalla, which should give you one of the best dahi vada.
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What is Dahi Vada
Vada = Soft fluffy deep fried balls of lentils. Dahi = Yogurt. To make dahi vada, vada (fried lentil balls) is soaked in yogurt, and topped with chutney and spices like chilli powder and roasted cumin powder
Holi (festival of colors) and Dahi Vada has a strong bond in my life. Every Holi my mother used to make Dahi vada to be served for guests who used to come to play Holi at our place. As a kid, it used to give a new dimension to Holi for me. Not sure if I used to wait for Holi more or dahi vada, but I used to thoroughly enjoy the eating dahi vada whilst our faces were smeared with colors. Making dahi vada on holi has been a tradition in my family and what a pleasant surprise the same is the tradition at my in-laws place.
It is not complicated to make dahi vada, but requires some planning ahead. For making vada, first fry and then subsequently soaked in water, before it can be served.
Dahi Vada vs Dahi Bhalla
Dahi Bhalla are somewhat different from dahi vada, only by that dahi bhalla is referred more as dahi bhalla chat. In dahi bhalle, few other things are topped to give it a chat feel. So if you have dahi vada, add papdi, boiled potatoes, and may be boiled chick peas too, sprinkle sev and dahi bhalla is ready. Some people do call dahi vada as dahi bhalla (especially in Delhi and punjab region of india).
North Indian version of Dahi vada is slightly different from that of south India (its called Thayir vadai or curd vada). In northern version, dahi vada is served with green coriander chutney and tamarind chutney. In south focus is towards coconut chutney.
Dahi vada has few other names depending on which part of India you are, e.g. dahi vada is called doi bora in Bengali, perugu vada in Telugu, mosaru vade in Kannada, and dahi barain Orrisa.
If you wish to try appe pan version of Dahi vada, you may check this link from Kitchenmai.
Method of making soft dahi vada
- Soak the urad dal in enough water for about 4 hours. After that, transfer it into a grinding jar with 1/4 cup of water and grind it to a smooth paste. Add coriander leaves, whole black peppercorn, grated ginger, red chilli powder, salt, roasted cumin powder and mix well.
- Whisk the batter for 7-8 minutes to make it little fluffier.
- Whisk the yogurt with 2 tablespoon of sugar.
- Heat the oil in a pan / kadhai over medium heat. Once the oil is enough heated, pour batter into the oil measuring 1 tablespoon each. Fry the vadas till they are golden in colour. Take them out and keep them on a kitchen towel.
- Now, for assembling the dahi vada, soak the vada in hot boiling water for few minutes. This helps in making them soft. Take vada out by squeezing the extra water with soft hands so that they don’t brake.
- Assemble the vada in a bowl / plate. Now pour whisked yogurt over them so that they are covered nicely.
- Spread Mint coriander chutney and Date tamarind chutney over vada. Sprinkle chat masala and roasted cumin powder, and garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Pro Tips for soft dahi vada
- Top tip to get soft and fluffy vada is to beat the batter thoroughly, and immediately fry the vada balls. You will find your vada soft and porous, else vada can get hard and lumpy.
- Use fresh yogurt for dahi vada, if you can.
- Soak lentils for good time (over night is ideal) before grinding the lentils and use little water. You want paste consistency, not too liquid or too solid for dahi vada.
Commonly asked questions about dahi vada
I have met a lot of people who ask some common questions about Dahi vada, am adding the answers to all those questions here, you may find it useful.
Is dahi vada good for weight loss? No, sadly not. It is made by deep frying. Eating in moderation should be fine.
Can we keep dahi vada batter in fridge? Yes, you can keep the batter in fridge for 1-2 days. You can also keep the fried dahi vadas (before soaking in water) in fridge in an airtight bags for good few days.
My dahi vadas burst while frying. Likely the presence of excess water is the cause of vada opening (bursting up during frying). Remember the batter has to be in paste consistency.
This Dahi Vada is
- Suitable for vegetarians
- Gluten-free
- Is a great snack / starter
- Not Vegan. You can make it vegan by using vegan yogurt
- Supremely delicious
Serving Suggestion
Before serving make sure you have soaked these vadas in hot water for few minutes. Squeeze out the water, then add whisked yogurt. Pour Mint coriander chutney and Date tamarind chutney over vada. Add chat masala and roasted cumin powder. Finally garnish with pomegranate seeds and serve.
Lets get to the step by step detailed recipe of dahi vada / bhalla.
Recipe Card
Dahi Vada | Dahi Bhalla
Ingredients
For the vada
- 1.5 Cup Split Black lentils/ Dhuli Urad dal
- 2 Tablespoon Fresh Coriander Leaves Chopped
- 6 Whole black peppercorn
- 1/2 Tablespoon Ginger Grated
- 1/2 Teaspoon Red Chilli Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
- Oil For Deep Frying
- 1 Teaspoon Roasted cumin powder
Other
- 2 Cup Yogurt
- 2 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Mint Coriander Chutney
- 1/2 Cup Date Tamarind Chutney
- 1 Tablespoon Roasted cumin powder
- 1 Tablespoon Chaat Masala
- Pomegranate Seeds Optional
Instructions
- Soak the Urad dal in enough water for about 4 hours. After that, transfer it into a grinding jar with 1/4 cup of water and grind it to a smooth paste. Add rest ingredients for vada and mix well.
- Whisk the batter for 7-8 minutes to make it little fluffier.
- Whisk the yogurt with 2 tablespoon of sugar.
- Heat the oil in a pan / kadhai over medium heat. Once the oil is enough heated, pour batter into the oil measuring 1 tablespoon each. Fry the vadas till they are golden in colour. Take them out and keep them on a kitchen towel.
- Now, for assembling the dahi vada, soak the vada in hot boiling water for few minutes. This helps in making them soft. Take vada out by squeezing the extra water with soft hands so that they don’t brake.
- Assemble the vada in a bowl / plate. Pour whisked yogurt over them so that they are covered nicely.
- Spread Mint coriander chutney and Date tamarind chutney over vada. Sprinkle chat masala and roasted cumin powder, and garnish with pomegranate seeds.
Notes
- You must not forget to whisk the batter for fluffy dahi vada.
- Adjust the spices according to your taste. You can add chopped green chillies to the batter before frying the vadas.
- Adjust amount of sugar in yogurt depending upon the sourness of it. Basically idea is to make yogurt little sweet.
- Soak lentils for good time before grinding the lentils and use little water. You want paste consistency, not too liquid or too solid for dahi vada.