Soft Dahi Vada (Lentil fritter soaked in tangy yogurt sauce) is a street food delight enjoyed by most folks back home. The dish gets its name 'Dahi Vada' from 'Dahi' which translates to yogurt and 'Vada' which is fritter in the local language. This dish is a delicious treat to the tastebuds and you can't seem to have enough of it, especially in the hot summers.
The soaked, ground and deep-fried lentils paired with yogurt is a great source of nutrition too. The lentil fritters can be shallow fried in an appe-pan if desired and can appeal to the calorie-conscious as well. In the making process, the fritters are soaked in hot water and squeezed and drained of all the oil. So even if they are deep-fried, you can still enjoy this dish guilt-free. Dahi Vada can make a great appetizer or a meal in itself as they are quite filling.
How to make soft Dahi Vadas?
Dahi Vadas are very tasty and there are certain tips to follow to make them soft, so they melt in your mouth with the first bite. We use two types of lentils split black gram dal and split yellow moong dal in the ratio of 1: ¼ in this recipe. Some folks use split black gram alone which is okay as well. Soak the lentils for about four hours in a large pan. Grind in a mixer with very little water, ginger, and green chilies to a smooth but thick paste. Whisk the batter well with a fork or spoon for about 4 to 5 minutes so it aerates. This is very important to make the Dahi Vadas soft.
What type of yogurt can be used for Dahi vada? Homemade yogurt made with live cultures gives the best taste when used in making Dahi vadas. You can easily make yogurt in an instant pot by adding live cultures and setting it to yogurt mode. If you are unable to make it at home, buy the plain yogurt with live cultures from the groceries. The consistency should not be very sticky it should be thick and a little runny. It is better to use curd that is not sour.
Can you store the batter ?
The batter can be made and stored in the refrigerator in advance and taken out just before using. If refrigerating make sure to add the salt just before frying. Try to use the batter within two days else it can get sour.
Deep fry a spoonful of batter and dish it out into a bowl lined with a paper towel. Once the Vadas or fritters are completely cooled, submerge the fritters in a large container with hot water for about 20 minutes. You can place a heavy container on the top to ensure the Vadas are submerged in water. Keep a bowl with beaten yogurt, salt, and sugar ready. Dish the fritters out and squeeze the water and oil from them by compressing between two spoons. Transfer them to the bowl with sweetened beaten yogurt.
Drizzle with green mint and coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, pomegranate seeds, and crunchy bites of fine sev(crispy bites made with chickpea flour) if you like. The sev and chutneys are available in the grocery aisles or made at home. You can also sprinkle a little red chili powder, cumin powder, and chaat masala if you wish. Hope you enjoyed reading about this recipe and will try it out yourself. Enjoy!
Soft Dahi Vada
Ingredients
For Vadas
- 1 cup black gram split (urad)
- ¼ cup moong dal yellow split
- ½ inch ginger
- 2 green chillies or as desired
For Yogurt sauce
- 4 cups yogurt beaten well
- 5 tsp sugar or more if you prefer sweeter
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 2 cups water
For garnish
- 2 tbsp mint chutney
- 2 tbsp tamarind relish chutney
- 2 tbsp lentils dev
- ¼ cup pomegranate seeds
- 1 pinch red chili powder
- 1 pinch chaat masala powder
- 1 pinch cumin powder
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
Instructions
- Soak the lentils for about four hours in a large bowl of water.
- Grind the soaked dals with ginger and green chillies with very little water.
- Add salt and beat the batter well for about 5 minutes until it aerates well.
- In a deep fry pan heat oil and pour a spoonful of batter.
- Fry the lentil fritters and drain them into a bowl with paper towel.
- After it is cooled transfer the fritters to a large bowl of hot water and keep the fritters submerged with a heavy lid or plate.
- Keep a flat bowl of yogurt beaten with water, a little salt and sugar ready .
- Squeeze the fritters of oil and water and transfer to the bowl filled with beaten yogurt .
- Drizzle with mint chutney, tamarind chutney, pomegraranate seed and top with crunchy sev if desired.
- Sprinkle a pinch of red chilli powder , cumin powder and chaat masala all over if desired.
Nutrition
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Looks too good. Perfect for the warm weather.
Thanks a lot Neetha, yes indeed perfect for the warm weather!
That looks amazing! And I love the plating! Plus it's such a healthy snack!
Thank you so much , the plating makes it very tempting and sure enough it is healthy as it is made with soaked lentils.
ATTRACTIVE ! 💙
Many Thanks Suni !
This looks amazing and would have so many flavors.
Thank you Angela, it absolutely bursts with amazing flavors!
This lentil fritter recipe looks amazing. I love that you serve the fritters in yogurt! Definitely on my to-make list!
Thank you so much Jacque , the fritters give the nice extra crunch and definitely worth a try! Enjoy .
This looks like an incredible vegan dish. I can't wait to try it.
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment Larena!
You reminded me of chaat stalls in India. Yummy! 😋
Chaat shops have amazing mouthwatering snacks and so glad to hear this reminds you of it. Thank you so much!
Oh I love savory yogurt dishes, these lentil fritters in yogurt looks amazing! Such a versatile dish as you can flavor the fritters any way you want!
Wonderful to hear that Sonila, yes one can flavor it as they like .Thanks for the wonderful comment!
Just looking at these fritters makes my mouth water. I can imagine that the first bite will be a burst of flavours. It'll be like having a party in your mouth.
Thank you so much for the wonderful comment, you are absolutely right its definitely a party in the mouth !
Wow, this sounds so unlike anything I've ever had before! It certainly looks very intriguing.
Thank you so much!
Love dahi vada and this one looks yum. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Will be trying soon.
Thank you dear , hope you enjoy it as well!
it looks heavenly delicious! I want to eat it right now! thanks for the recipe
Aww, Thank you so much for the wonderful comment!
Lately I've been eating more and more vegetarian dishes and this just sounds great, will try it this weekend!
Yes indeed this is a great option for vegetarians ! Thank you so much
I dont like yogurts but the way you presented it makes me want to try! really nice!
Thanks Michael , yes the spices and the crunchy bites makes this yogurt based dish taste even better!
I love the combination of flavors especially because I love lentils and I also love fritters. This is so delicious!
Thank you so much for such a nice comment, appreciate it!
I love Dahi vada, and especially the Delhi wali type. This recipe made me wanna go back there!
Aww I can imagine that, this dish definitely brings memories of the yummy snacks and food back home .Thank you so much for the comment!
Wow! This looks good. This is the first time I heard about Dahi Vada but I love how you described this food delight. Would love to try this in the future. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Thank you so much for reading, happy to hear that you would love to try it ! Enjoy.
This looks very good! I love that it can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Thank you for sharing!