Dahi bhalla
Dahi (curd) bhalla or dahi vada is one of the popular chaats from Delhi or north India. Mostly served as appetizer or sides.
Ingredients
For bhallas
- ½ cup urad dal or split white gram soaked in water 4-5 hours or overnight
- 1.25 cup water to soak dal or lentil
- 6-7 tbsp water for grinding or as required
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- 1- inch ginger
- 2-3 green chilies
- Salt to taste
- Oil for frying
For making dahi bhalla
- 2-2.5 cup water for soaking bhallas
- 2 cups chilled curd or dahi
- Sugar to taste optional
- 1/3 cup sweet chutney or tamarind date chutney
- 1/3 cup spicy chutney or chili coriander, and mint chutney
- Chaat masala as required
- Red chili paprika powder, as required
- Roasted cumin powder as required
For garnishing
- Coriander leaves
- Pomegranate arils optional
Instructions
Making bhalla or vada batter
- Rinse urad dal, split white gram, in water couple times
- Soak dal or lentil in water for 4-5 hours or overnight
- Drain the dal or lentil and add it to grinder jar
- Add cumin powder, salt, ginger, green chilies, and 6-7 tbsp water
- Grind everything to a smooth paste
- Take ground batter to a bowl
- Stir the batter briskly for 10 minutes to make it light and fluffy
Frying bhallas or vada
- Add oil to kadai or pan for deep frying
- Heat the oil on medium flame
- To check if the oil is ready for frying, add a small drop of batter to oil. If it comes to top Immediately, the oil is ready to fry bhallas
- Now add a spoonful of batter in oil
- According to the capacity of your pan, add more bhallas
- Flip the bhallas frequently
- Fry till golden or light brown
- Drain excess oil using paper towel
- Add bhalla to the water
- Soak bhalla for 20-25 minutes
- Take each bhalla between your palms and gently press it and remove excess water
Making dahi (curd) bhalla or dahi vada
- Add sugar to chilled dahi or curd and beat it till smooth
- Now in a serving plate put 2-3 bhallas and add curd
- Add sweet and spicy chutney as required
- Sprinkle chili powder, roasted cumin powder, and chaat masala
- Garnish it with coriander leaves and pomegranate arils
- Serve dahi bhalla immediately
Notes
- To check right consistency of the batter, in a small bowl take water and add 1 tbsp batter. If it does not float, add sooji (semolina) or besan flour (garbanzo bean flour, chickpea flour)
- You can also add papdi, pieces of boiled potato and boiled chhole (chickpeas) before adding curd to the soaked and pressed bhalla
- To make it vegan, use cashew curd
- You can also add papdi, pieces of boiled potato and boiled chhole (chickpeas) before adding curd to the soaked and pressed bhalla
- To make it vegan, use cashew curd