dahi vade / dahi bhalle

these dahi bhalle i made for holi but could not post then....it comes now and i want to make them again........these are really soft and flavorful vadas which melts in your mouth instantly........normally i make them plain but this holi i wanted to them the way my dadi used to make them.....with a flavoring of black cardamom and ginger..............everybody remembered her while eating these .

some people find it hard to make soft n melting vadas and the trick lies in making the vada paste a little softer and lighter( by giving it an extra whiz in the grinder).....after that the fried vadas should be soaked in hot salted water untill they double in size.........they become really soft after this.........drain them, top them with curds n masalas n serve.......

see how the recipe goes..........

ingredients

urad daal or split black gram without skin 250 gm
ginger 1 inch piece
black cardamom 5 nos.
oil to deep fry
curds 500 gm
cumin seeds roasted and powdered ( can be stored)
black pepper powder
red chilly powder
salt

procedure

soak the daal overnight and grind to make a smooth paste, water has to be added during grinding and the consistensy should be soft but not runny, air should be incorporated into the batter by whizzing it agin into the blender.

now make a paste of ginger and black cardamom and mix with the daal batter.........

heat oil in a deep frying pan and shape the vadas with a wet hand..just take a handful, smooth it on your four fingers ,with your thumb make a hole in the center and drop carefully into the hot oil, 3-4 vadas can be fried in one batch and it has to be done on medium flame so that it gets cooked through..........when it gets golden brown , drain from he oil and dip into salted boiling water.........remove with the help of a slotted spoon when it doubles in size.....repeat for all the fried vadas , arrange them into a shallow dish, let it cool, pour beaten curds over this and keep in the fridge untill chilled ........at the time of serving, sprinkle the masalas in whatever proportion you like and enjoy soft dahi vadas.

these are the vadas just after frying

and this one after soaking in salted hot water, drained after it gets doubled in size...

and this one after topping it with curds and a sprinkling of masalas........mmmm......yum.

the curd should be beaten smooth and some sugar can be added to it if you like it khatta- meetha ............sweet sonth wali chutny can be used as a topping too to make it khatta meetha....this one is a plain slightly khatta vada which goes well like a side dish or like a chaat snack.

i shall post other variants as n when i make them..