dahi vada, dahi vade, dahi badey or dahi bhalle | how to make soft dahi vade

These dahi bhalle I made for holi but could not post it then, so it comes now and I am tempted to make them again. These are really soft and flavorful vadas with melts in your mouth texture that comes with a bit of practice. Normally I make them plain but this holi I wanted them the way my dadi used to make. With a flavoring of black cardamom and ginger. All of us remembered her while eating these dahi vadas with a ginger and black cardamom flavor..

Some people find it hard to make soft and melt in the mouth type vadas but the trick lies in making the vada paste a little finer and lighter (by giving it an extra whiz in the grinder).

After that the fried vadas should be soaked in hot salted water until they double in size, they become really soft after this. Drain them, top them with curds n masala and serve.

There are a few things that one must take care of when trying to make soft dahi badas.

1. Soak the urad dal for 3-4 hours minimum.
2. Grind the daal along with a little water to make a very smooth paste that looks like whipped cream. You need to run the blender for extra couple of minutes to whip the paste till light and airy.
3. To test the airy nature of the urad dal paste, take a spoon full of paste and drop it in a deep bowl of water. The blob of urad paste should float on the surface. 
4. Fry the vadas on low flame so it cooks evenly.
5. Soak the fried vadas in salted hot water for at least 30 minutes so it soaks the water and gets really soft. 
6. The fried vadas can be refrigerated for a week or so and soaked in hot water for a little longer time whenever required.

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 consistency should be soft but not runny, air should be incorporated into the batter by whizzing it again 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 the vadas get golden brown in the hot oil, drain from the oil and dip into salted boiling water right away. Repeat frying more batches of vadas and keep immersing them all into salted boiling water. Let the vadas be fully submerged in hot water for about an hour or till they all double in size.

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 until chilled ...

At the time of serving, sprinkle the masala in whatever proportion you like and enjoy soft dahi vadas.

The vadas are crisp just after frying, after soaking in salted hot water it becomes doubled in size and quite soft.

The curd should be beaten smooth and some sugar can be added to it if you like it khatta- meetha.

Sweet sonth wali chutney 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. The topping I used this time is some bhuna jeera, red chilly powder and black salt.

I shall post other variants as and when I make them..

egg curry masala

eggs are so versatile n full of nutrition , they are always in your fridge n come to your rescue when you want to make something tasty n nutritious without much effort......this is such an easy n spicy recipe which goes well with boiled rice or chapatis.......the hot gravy can be adapted to your taste n every family has a different version of a favorite egg curry..........this one is mine.......i make it in a low fat version when i have time n in more oil when i have to be quick or when cooking for guests.......see how i make it both ways.......

ingredients

firm boiled eggs 4 nos. ( for 2 servings)
large ripe tomatoes 2 nos.
onions medium sized 2 nos.
generous amounts of ginger garlic n green chillies
turmeric,coriander, cumin and black pepper powder 1 tsp each
red chilly powder 1 tsp ( optional)
green coriander leaves chopped 2 tbsp
mustard oil 1 tbsp for low fat version or 5 tbsp otherwise
salt to taste


procedure

first make a coarse paste of onions in a blender.......heat the oil and fry the boiled, shelled eggs lightly , drain n keep aside.........now throw in the onion paste and fry on very low heat if using less oil, it is better to add salt while doing so as salt fastens the browning of onions.........if using more oil it is better to keep the flame on high...........anyway the onions have to be lightly browned ......in the meanwhile make a coarse paste of ginger garlic n green chillies n tip this paste too into the pan...fry it lightly , no browning is needed but the pastes should get cooked........now add all the powder masalas, stir nicely and tip in a coarse paste of tomatoes which i usually make during the cooking process only.......i usually cut down on my cooking time by grinding n blending one by one while adding them to the pan in that order............it can well be done beforehand if you cannot manage both simultaneously.............after adding the tomatoes, stir a bit and cook the masala covered till oil separates on top......by this time the masalas get aroamtic .......add some water, as much as you want depending how thick or thin gravy you want........tip in the fried eggs( fried boiled potatoes can also be added at this point) n cook covered for a while till oil comes on top again........garnish with coriander leaves n serve hot .......

i cook it without garam masala as the taste of this gravy is a bit subtle but very aromatic.......generous amounts of onions n tomatoes make it lightand all the flavours come out beautifully.....nothing is overpowering n the top note of coriander leaves is awesome.........moreover i keep the pastes coarse so as to make this gravy textured...........