No Fry Dahi Vada
No Fry Dahi Vada are melt in mouth lentil fritters soaked in a sweet, spicy, and tangy yogurt sauce.
Equipment
- Blender
- Apple Pan
Ingredients
For The Vada
- 1/2 cup Urad dal
- 1/4 cup Water for grinding
- 1/2 large Green chili
- 1/4 inch Ginger
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Oil
For Yogurt Sauce
- 1.5 cup Yogurt
- 1/4 tsp Roasted cumin powder
- 1/8 tsp Red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper powder freshly ground
- 1/4 tsp Chaat masala
- 4 tsp Sugar or as required
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Rock Salt
Toppings
- 1/4 cup Tamarind date chutney
- 1/4 cup Green mint chutney
- 1/8 tsp Roasted cumin powder
- 1/8 tsp Red chili powder
- 2 tsp Coriander leaves chopped
- 1 tbsp Sev thin
Instructions
Making The Vada
- Triple wash the urad dal and soak into 2 cups of water for 5 hours.
- Drain out all the water from the urad dal and transfer it to a blending jar. Add some salt, green chili, and ginger with ¼ cup water. Grind the mixture into a smooth batter.
- Transfer the batter to a bowl. Beat the mixture with a whisk for about 6-8 minutes in one direction, until it turns light and air pockets are formed into the batter.
- Frying The Vada
- Heat the appe pan on medium and add a few drops of oil in each of the cavities of a pan.
- Once the pan is hot, lower the heat to medium low.
- Add a spoonful of batter in each cavity. Cover the pan with a lid and increase the heat to medium.
- After 2 minutes or after the vada puffs up, take out the lid and flip the vada with a wooden stick (Popsicle stick). Cook the other side for about 1 minute and take out all the vadas and transfer them on a plate.
Soaking The Vada
- In a separate bowl, add 2 cups of lukewarm water, ½ tsp salt, and mix. Transfer 5-6 vadas and let them sit in the salt water for about 5 minutes.
- Gently press the vada between your palms to squeeze out all the water from them and transfer them onto a plate. Repeat the same process with the remaining vadas.
Making The Yogurt Sauce
- In a bowl, whisk together some yogurt, spices, salt, and sugar with the help of a whisk until smooth. You may add 1-2 tbsp water if you find the sauce is too thick.
Assembling
- Place around 4-6 vada on a serving plate. Pour some yogurt sauce on the top.
- Drizzle some green mint chutney and tamarind chutney. Sprinkle some roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, coriander leaves, and thin sev on the top.
Notes
- Soak the urad dal for minimum 4 hours or maximum 8 hours.
- Add a little water at the beginning while grinding the dal. Make a smooth and thick batter like the pancake batter.
- If your batter becomes more watery, add a spoonful of semolina at a time to thicken the consistency of the batter.
- Whisk the batter for 6-8 minutes. You can use a stand mixer or hand mixer with a whisk attachment to make the batter light and airy.
- While adding the batter into a hot appe pan , lower the heat so the batter will not splutter. Cook the vada on medium heat, do not cook them on high or they will not get cooked from the inside.
- Make sure to soak the vada in some lukewarm water for about 5 minutes in batches or transfer all the vadas in a large bowl of salt water.
- You can soak the vadas in some flavored yogurt for 10 minutes and then add the toppings before serving them. Vada will absorb some yogurt and taste amazing.
- Add the spices, sugar, and salt according to your taste in the yogurt sauce.
- You can buy a store bought tamarind chutney or mint chutney for convenience or checkout the recipes in my blog posts by using the links provided. Tamarind Date Chutney and Green Mint Chutney is in my Sweet Potato Chana Chaat Recipe.