Dahi vada/ dahi bhalla chaat..Holi special!
Holi lunch is sort of steeped in culinary history at my place..this is how my mom made the lunch, and I am trying my best to continue the tradition, One tired foot at a time!
There has to be mutton curry, chicken sukka, pulao, peas kachori, malpua, some sort of tikkas , thandai and rose lassi, Mithais(shop bought) and these dahi vada chaat...and this was simply yum.
It's a rather easy dish I make all the time for breakfast ..everyone loves it and it's fast.
But giving dahi vada the chaat avatar is essential for holi celebrations, or so they tell me
wink emoticon
... and now I am going to pass on this beautiful message of
... and now I am going to pass on this beautiful message of
RECIPE:
Ingredients:
- 2cups of udad dal (split black lentils) cleaned, washed and soaked in water for upto 11/2 to 2hrs.
- 4 green chillies, chopped fine.
- 1inch ginger, chopped fine.
- 2 tsp cracked pepper corns.
- salt to taste
- 1 tsp of asafoetida/hing powder
- 2 sprigs of curry leaves.
- oil to fry the vadas.
Method:
- Drain the water from the soaked dal completely and grind with green chillies ,salt,peppercorns,salt,asafoetida powder in a blender or mixie. It will be a very thick batter and don't be tempted to add water while grinding.
- Water should be added only if difficult to grind and in table spoonfuls making sure not to make the batter soft and soggy.
- Take out the batter and add the sprigs of curry leaves and mix it really really well with a spoon to give soft, light vadas.
Procedure for making vadas:
Generally when I make these for breakfast, I simply drop spoonfuls of batter in oil, as I had never been able to make perfect holes like my mum does using the right thumb and pressing it into the batter kept on her palm, and miraculously sliding it off into hot oil,perfect shape still intact!!! Scary scary proposition for me.
That's when my friend Radha gave me this amazing tip to make the perfectly shaped vadas..
- Oil a ziploc bag and keep a bowl of water ready.
- Make your hand little wet and take a small ball of the thick batter and place it on the greased ziploc bag surface and flatten it slightly and make a dent in the middle with the finger.If you fingers are getting sticky with the batter then lightly dip in the water and quickly shape the vadas.
- At a time shape vadas that you will fry immediately. Dont let the raw batter of shaped vadas sit on the counter.
- Meanwhile keep a kadai/tawa with oil for deep frying.
- As soon as the oil is hot enough , ease out the shaped vadas and gently slide into the oil taking care not to make a splash. Drop all the shaped vadas and deep fry til done.
- You can check whether the oil is hot enough by dropping a small bit of the batter. It should come up immediately with a sizzle. Fry the vadas on a medium flame as it takes time to cook inside .Flip carefully on other side.
- You need to fry some more till it attains golden brown color.
For the dahi vadas,
- Take the fried vadas and immediately let it soak in a large bowl of water for 5mins.
- Gently press them by keeping it in your palm, and squeezing out excess water, drop into the prepared curd .
- Keep in fridge for 2-3 hrs.
For the "dahi" or Curd:
Whisk curd with a little water, minced garlic, green chillie, salt, red chillie powder and just a tad of chaat masala.
For the chaat:
Tamarind date chutney, hari(coriander & mint) chutney, chopped onions. Coriander leaves and sev.
To serve,
- Put some dahi vada on a plate.
- top with some curd,
- add the chutneys as per taste.
- sprinkle on the garnish and serve.
- Some even add Pom seeds to the garnish .
Notes:
- As soon as the batter is ground , dont let it ferment or sit on the counter for long.
- The crispiness is achieved by getting the right consistency of batter ground.
- For beginners , shaping the vadas on the greased plastic cover is the easiest.
Love,
S:)