Super Soft Dahi Vada Recipe

Rajan loves cooking dishes from his native Indian cuisine. He likes to share his favourite recipes with his online readers.

Dahi vada is a popular Indian street food that is also often prepared as a side dish with meals. This dish is made with deep-fried urad dal fritters dunked in plain creamy dahi (yoghurt) and topped with sweet and spicy chutneys as well as sprinklings of various types of powdered spices.

If you follow the tips provided in the instructions and recipe video below, your dahi vadas will turn out super soft every time you prepare them—without the help of yeast, baking powder or baking soda.

Do try them and share your experience.

Cook Time

Ingredients

For the vada batter:

• 1 cup urad dal (white lentils), soaked overnight in water and then drained
• 1-inch ginger, peeled and grated
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp heeng (asafoetida powder)
• water as needed, to grind the urad dal
• 15-20 kishmish (raisins), optional
• 1 tbsp finely chopped hara dhania (cilantro)

For deep-frying the vada:

• vegetable oil, as needed

To assemble and serve:

• 500-750 grams of dahi (yoghurt), whisked until smooth
• 4-5 tsp ground sugar
• 1/4 tsp kala namak (salt)
• kala namak (salt), for sprinkling
• bhuna jeera (roasted cumin seed powder), for sprinkling
• red chilli powder, for sprinkling
• green chutney, for pouring on the dish
• imli chutney, for pouring on the dish

Instructions

1. Prepare the vada batter: In a grinder, add the soaked urad dal and the rest of the ingredients listed for the batter. Add water (only as much as needed) to grind the dal to a thick smooth paste. We used about 1/2 a cup of water. Do not make the batter thin. Transfer the batter to a bowl.
2. Add the raisins and mix well. Whisk the batter for 10-15 minutes in one direction only until the batter become fluffy.
3. Add the chopped cilantro and mix well.
4. Prepare a pan with oil on medium heat for frying the vadas.
5. Once the oil is a little hot, stir it a few times. Pour small portions of the batter in the pan. When the vadas puff up, flip them over and keep turning them over until they are fried golden. Transfer to a plate and fry the remaining vadas.
6. Dip as many vadas as you need in a bowl of water for 10-15 minutes; then press each one softly between the palms to squeeze out the water. Transfer to a plate. You can store the remaining vadas in the fridge for a day.
7. To the whisked dahi add 4-5 tsp of ground sugar and mix well. Add 1/4 tsp salt and mix again.
8. To serve the dahi vada, first spread a layer of dahi in a serving bowl. Arrange one layer of vadas over this. Next sprinkle some salt, roasted jeera powder, red chilli powder, green chutney and finally the imli chutney, one after the other. Now cover the vadas by pouring dahi over them.
9. Place the remaining vadas over this and repeat the process with the spices, chutneys and dahi as before.
10. Garnish with some roasted jeera powder and red chilli powder. Chill the dish in the fridge before serving.

Super Soft Dahi Vada Recipe

© 2021 Rajan Singh Jolly