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Hyderabadi Dahi Vada

South Indian style dahi vada - fritters soaked in tangy yogurt. Served in Ramadan.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup urad daal
  • 1/4 cup water (leftover from soaking the daal)
  • 2 tsp finely diced ginger
  • 1 small piece of ginger
  • 4 curry leaves (chopped)
  • 2 serrano chilies
  • 2 Tbsp diced onion
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ajwan seeds
  • 1.5 tsp salt

Yogurt

  • 3-4 cup yogurt (plus water to thin out)
  • 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Bhagar

  • 2 Tbsp oil
  • 5 curry leaves
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 4 dried red chilies
  • 1 pinch asoefitida

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, wash the urad daal really well until the water turns transluscent. Then soak overnight with water.

  2. Drain the lentils that have been soaking overnight and keep some of the water. Grind the lentils in batches with a little bit of water at a time. I used in total about 1/4 cup of the water used for soaking the lentils.

  3. The batter should be the consistency of pancake batter. Using a whisk or electric mixer, whisk vigorously to incorporate air into the batter.

  4. Now fold in all your seasonings and aromatics - serranos, onion, cilantro, curry leaves, ginger, cumin, ajwan, and salt.

  5. Heat up a pan with about an inch or so of oil. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture and fry until golden brown. You may also shape the vadas into doughnuts with a hole in the center (this takes a bit of skill and practice, there are some good youtube videos that demonstrate how to do this). Make sure the vadas are cooked through in the center. If they are golden on the outside but still raw, then turn the heat down.

  6. In your serving bowl, add the yogurt and thin it out with some water so that it's not too thick.

  7. Season the yogurt with salt, ginger-garlic paste.

  8. Gently toss in the vadas and make sure they are submerged in the yogurt mixture.

  9. Heat up a tablespoon or two of oil in a small pan. Once hot, add in the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds start popping, add your curry leaves and asoefitida.

  10. Remove from heat and pour over the dahi vadas. Ready to serve.