Dahi Vada

Hey guys! :)

It's been a long time since I last posted. I've been a bit busy of late... and when I did get the time, I was lazy... :)

My in-laws had come a month back so I'd got out all my love for making beautiful food with a relish. Tried out lots of stuff.. mostly sweet dishes... but a lot of times it was just that... good to look at... :P

But these vadas, they were a smashing success!

The first time I had dahi vadas were from a Pakistani neighbour's place back in Saudi. They were soooo good, I asked my mom to make it when I got back home. Dahi vada was something new at my home. I don't remember anyone making them back home in Kerala either. Not in my place...

My mom took the recipe from aunty and since then Dahi vadas have always been a must-have dish during Ramadan....

That was a long time ago... when I was in the 3rd grade I think...
After getting married this is the first time I've tried it.

For the vada you'll need
- Urud daal - 1 cup (you'll get around 20+ medium vada's)
- cumin seeds - 1 tsp
- 3-4 curry leaves, finely chopped
- chopped onions - 2 tbsp (optional)
- salt to taste
- Oil for frying
(Actually for the vada all u need is urud daal and salt. The cumin seeds, curry leaves and onion adds extra taste. That's the best part of cooking at home after all. You can make it as you like it)

For the Dahi
- Dahi (add water to thin the yogurt.. I use the Almarai Leban we get here in the gulf)
- A handful of coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- green chillies 1-2 (this depends on how hot ur chillies are. If 2 are not enough add more)
- salt to taste

For garnishing
- Coriander leaves
- Urud daal - 1 tbsp
- Kashmiri chilli powder
- Chaat masala

How to make:
- Wash and soak the daal in water for about 4-6 hours.
- Grind it into a smooth paste. Don't add too much water for grinding. It should be a thick, smooth paste.
- Add salt, cumin seeds, onion and curry leaves. Mix well.

Heat oil in a large pan and drop spoonfuls of batter into it. Fry until it turns gold drown. Do make sure the oil is hot before dropping the batter in.
Take the hot vadas and put them in a mixture of cold water and salt for 2-3 minutes. Then squeeze out the water and keep aside...
Make small vadas.... once its soaked in water and then later the dahi, it'll swell up and be twice its size... unless, ofcourse, its BIG dahi vadas you want....

Now for the dahi part:
Blend together the cumin seeds, green chillies, coriander leaves and yogurt. Add salt (according to your taste) to the mixture.

Now arrange the vadas in whatever dish u want to serve it in and pour the dahi mixture over them.
For garnishing u could simply use coriander leaves. I roasted some urud daal in oil and poured over the dahi vada. If u like something crunchy this is a good option. I love it with chick peas too.
Then I just sprinkled some kashmiri chillie powder and Chaat masala on top to give it that spicy look of the Indian food :)

These vadas turned out really soft and everyone loved it. I like collecting such simple snack ideas. Easy to make for guests. There was this recipe I came across a few days back for making stuffed dahi vada: http://cooking-goodfood.blogspot.ae/2012/03/stuffed-dahi-vada.html. It looks yum yum....planing to try it out soon... :)

Tata for now... will catch up later when I have some other beautiful yummilicious food and recipe... :)