I had promised the OH I would make dahi vada whenever he came home from his Delhi trip. The man returned home today, and I kept up my promise. I made them this evening, and they are waiting for the husband to come home from work to devour them. 🙂 Two purposes solved – 1. The husband is happy, eagerly looking forward to return home from work today, and 2. I am happy I made something for the Alphabet Cooking Challenge, something new that I love but have never tried making myself. 🙂
The dahi vadas turned out quite well for a first try, though I had a lot of trouble making the ‘holes’ in them. 😀
Amma taught me the recipe for the vadas, the way she has always been making them.
Ingredients (for about 10 medium-sized vadas):
For the vadas:
1 glass of urad dal
Salt to taste
2 green chillies, chopped
A small piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
A few fresh curry leaves
Oil for frying the vadas
For the curd:
A few stalks of fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon oil
Salt to taste
2 green chillies
1/2 litre curd, not too sour
About 2 tablespoons of fresh, grated coconut
About 2 tablespoons of Bengal gram (pottu kadalai)
Method:
For the curd:
Keep the curd ready, so that you can drop the vadas in it as soon as they are fried and ready.
1. Take the curd in a large mixing bowl and add salt to taste. Add the chopped coriander leaves.
2. Grind the grated coconut, Bengal gram and green chillies into a paste, adding a little bit of water. Add this paste to the curd.
3. Heat the oil in a kadhai and add the mustard seeds. Let them splutter. Add this to the curd. Mix everything well together.
For the vadas:
1. Clean the urad dal thoroughly. Soak it in a large vessel, with sufficient amount of water, for 3-4 hours.
2. After the stipulated amount of time, drain all the water out of the soaked urad dal. Grind it in a mixer, with the chopped green chillies and ginger, little by little. You will have to add water in small quantities, as and when required. Grind it till the dough is soft and springy. Ensure that it is not too watery, otherwise making the vadas gets very difficult.
3. Take the dough in a large bowl. Add salt to taste only when you are ready to fry the vadas.
4. When you are ready, heat the oil for frying in a kadhai. In the meantime, spread a little bit of oil on a small square cut out of thick plastic paper. Take about a spoonful of the dough and spread it out well on the plastic paper. Make a hole in the middle.
5. Fry the vadas in the hot oil till they are brown on both sides. Drop the vadas into the curd immediately, so that they absorb it well. Serve immediately.
Variation: If you want to, you can garnish the dahi vada with boondi or mixture. You can add a dollop of sweet chutney to it, too, if you like.
The Girl Next Door 
You’ve made me hungry .. I want some too!!
And there is a very useful tip I learnt sometime back for making ulundhu vadai .. If we make the batter in a mixie, then we need to beat it with our hand or a ladle for some time so that it gets aerated .. And then drop a little bit of dough in a bowl of water, it should float (that means it is aerated. If it sinks, beat a little more until it floats in water .. doesn’t take long)
If you do this, the vada will take in less oil and will be more spongy .. It works really well .. Try it out next time ..
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@Aarthy
Oh, that sounds like a great tip. Will keep it in mind, whenever there’s a next time for ulundu vadas and me. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Yummmmmm they look TGND! 🙂 I have made medhu/ uLundu vaDai but somehow never made dahi vaDas 🙂 I see it entails just a wee bit extra step. K and I love dahi waDas and made sure we had it in our wedding menu for 2 meals 😛 Definitely making this 🙂 And , making holes is my favourite part – sometimes you can’t look through the hole coz’ it is so slanting (wakDu in K’s language) haha but so fun ! 🙂
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@Kismitoffeebar
LOL – you guys are funny!
Dahi vada is nothing but ulundu vada soaked in curd, ya. As you say, it needs just one more little step. Go,make it! 🙂
Making the hole – the batter has to be just the right consistency to be able to do that. Mine wasn’t, so making the holes was quite a difficult task yesterday.
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When ever i try making vada batter in mixie, it invariably becomes bonda.. :P.. mom still grinds it in attu-kal– the stone used for grinding ..
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@Ashreyamom
I so understand what you mean. Sigh! I had great difficulty making the holes yesterday. 🙂
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I love Thayir Vadai 🙂 Amma has made this for me so many times while she is making the idli batter. Instead of coconut, amma adds grated carrot and curry leaves 🙂 This post is making me so nostalgic. I should make some very soon 🙂
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@Greenboochi
Oh, yes. Though the basic ingredients for the vada remain the same, you can add absolutely anything you want to the curd.
Here’s hoping you get to make some at home real soon. 🙂
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Amma usually puts the vadas in water immediately after frying and then squeezes it and then puts it in curd…they remain soft for a long time then
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@R’s Mom
Yes, I have heard a lot of people doing that, but somehow I don’t like the taste that way. 😦
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looks delicious!! 😀
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@Pixie
Thanks, Pixie! 🙂
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can I also have some PLEASEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee 🙂
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@Bikramjit
Sure, please come over! 🙂
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