Dahi Vade with Total Greek Yoghurt

Everyone has their signature dishes and one of mine is Dahi Vade. It is a classic North Indian accompaniment which you will definitely find at all events. I have not met a single person till now who has not liked Dahi Vade. They are basically fritters made with urad daal (lentils) and served with a lot of curd. They act as cooling agents and when served with the classic Indian toppings, they make a very good and filling dish on their own.

If making from scratch, you can soak urad daal overnight and then grind it to make a coarse paste. However, these days everything is available in the market making things easier when you have little time to prepare. Gits is a very popular brand which has the dahi vada mix already prepared. You just need to soak it in water as prescribed and make fritters.

Gits Dahi Vada mix

Ingredients

1 GITS Dahi Vada pack

1 cup Total Greek Yoghurt

Tamarind chutney

Salt

Black salt

Red chilli powder

Roasted cumin powder

Oil for frying

Ready to serve Dahi Vade

Soak GITS Dahi Vada mix with water as mentioned on pack to get a thick batter. Drop spoonfuls of the batter in hot oil. Once the fritters are golden brown, drain them on paper. Soak them in plain tap water for 10 mins till soft. Squeeze out the water gently without breaking the vada.

Add a little water and a pinch of salt to Total Greek Yoghurt to make it thin. Soak the vade in it for 2-3 mins so they absorb the yoghurt and puff up. Line them in a container or a plate. Once all the vade are prepared, coat them with the remaining yoghurt evenly.

Decorate with tamarind chutney and garnish with salt, black salt, red chilli powder and cumin powder before serving.

Prepared vade can be stored in air tight container in the fridge for upto 15 days.

Dahi Vada

The thought of dahi vada conjures up images of soft cold vada in cold curd which melts when placed on the tongue. It was a favorite dish of my family with Mom looking for excuses to prepare it. The best part about dadi vada is that it can be prepared 2-3 days in advance of the occasion and keeps well for a couple of days later also.

Ingredients

200 gms urad dal

100 gms curd

Oil

Salt

Soak urad dal overnight. Drain the water and grind it in a mixer. Add a little salt to it. Since the curd will also have salt, make sure the salt added to vada compensates it. The consistency of the vada mixture should be such that it does not flow freely. Heat oil in a pan to fry the vada. Now comes the difficult part. Spread a wet muslin cloth on a rolling board. Wet the cloth with water. Place a small ball of vada mix on it and spread into a flat ball while making a hole in the middle. Lift the vada carefully and fry it in the oil till golden brown. Drop the fried vada into a pot of water till soft. Squeeze out the water and keep aside.

Lifting the vada off the cloth takes some practice. You can make the vada on your hand also. Wet the palm of your hand and prepare the vada on it for frying.

Mix curd with a little water to make it thin. Add a little salt and mix properly. Take a container with a flat base and pour a thin layer of curd in it. Put a layer of vada on it. Pour another layer of curd and then another layer of vada and so on till all the vadas are covered with curd. The vadas will soak the curd and become soft. Refrigerate. The left over curd can be used to garnish the dahi vada.

To serve, place 2 dahi vada  on a plate. Pour a few spoonfuls of beaten curd over it. Add tamarind chutney and sprinkle white salt, black salt, red chilli powder and roasted zeera powder on it. Use aloo bhujia to top it off.

 

Tip: You can use ready-made vada mix also to directly prepare the vadas.