Introducing you to this infamous Odia street food dish – Dahi Vada with Dum Aloo that originates from a state in Eastern India. This post is part 1, the Dahi Vada, of the complete dish. In the light of emphasising the lesser-known dishes of India, here’s @beextravegant bringing to you Vegan Dahi Vada – lentil fritters soaked in yoghurt mix and tempered with spices. It is usually served with a spicy potato curry of sorts called Aloo Dum. The ingredients used are basic, at the same time, come together beautifully.
The street food culture in India is ingrained in many Indians, and the vendors are the true essence of the country’s food culture. Indian street food is the go-to answer to any problem or achievement, and it surely takes you on a culinary journey of flavours and fusions. Dahi Vada is one of those dishes that is available in every other state and the toppings change as you cross each state border. Each state has a different story to tell – the Maharashtrians have a different way of serving their Dahi Vade. The flavours take a spicy turn when the Delhi-ites serve Dahi Balla with lots of spices and so on. I chose Odia Dahi Vada to expose you to a different flavour palate of the lesser-known regions of Eastern India. Let’s break down the recipe to the T.
What is Dahi Bara or Vada?
Vadas are crispy, fluffy and yummy doughnut-shaped lentil fritters that have variations all over India and the pronunciations differ from region to region. And Dahi if you know from my previous recipes means yoghurt or curd (in India). Vadas are fluffy golden-coloured doughnut-shaped fritters that are served with coconut chutney in many South Indian cities.
The Vadas are made from soaked and ground urad daal and shaped into doughnuts, then deep fried in neutral oil.
Dahi Vada is when these Vadas are soaked in a yoghurt mix. In this recipe, we will soak them in Hing spiced water for a little while to get them moist and ready to absorb the yoghurt mix.
How to make Vegan Dahi Vada? (tips and tricks)
This Vegan Dahi Vada recipe is a three-part recipe and requires some of prep time. This recipe involves:
- Making the Vadas or lentil doughnuts
- soaking the Vadas in yoghurt mix
- tempering the Dahi vada
Making Crispy Vadas
Soak the urad daal in enough water for up to 4-5 hours, until they soak up water and double up in size.
Note: Like I always say – use the leftover water to feed your plant babies. It makes them happy, and healthy AND it saves the environment. 🙂
2. Blend the Urad dal with little water in a high-speed blender. Here, make sure to use minimum water to keep the batter thick. Add salt and Rava, then mix well and set aside.
3. Take a medium bite-sized amount of the mixture to your palms. Shape the batter into a doughnut shape using your finger. Keep them aside.
4. Heat enough oil, with a high smoke point, to deep fry (around 170C) and drop the Vadas one by one. DO not overcrowd the pan and spread the Vadas apart to make sure they don’t stick to each other. Once all the Vadas have turned golden brown on both sides, remove and set aside to let the oil drain out.
5. Soak the Vadas in Hing and salt-spiced water for 2-3 minutes or until they have soaked up the water. We want the vadas to become soft but not soggy. Finally, Remove each vada one by one, while squeezing out the water as much as possible. Set aside.
Note: Do not over soak. The Vadas will crumble apart if they have been soaked in water for too long
For tempering
- Heat oil in a tempering pan, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, green chillies, red chillies (dry), and thing, curry leaves.
- Make sure the mustard seeds have popped well, otherwise you will be left with a bitter taste.
- Let this cool down while you prepare the yoghurt mix.
For Yoghurt Mix
- First, in a bowl add soy yoghurt, water, grated ginger, hing and salt to taste. Note: If your yoghurt isn’t sour/tangy enough, add a tbsp of lemon juice to it!
2. Secondly, mix well until the texture looks syrupy. Add the tempering on top and then drop the squeezed Vadas in it one by one.
3. Next, let the vadas soak in the Dahi or yoghurt mixture for some time before serving. You can serve the Dahi Vada warm or cooled down. Make sure that the Vadas are soft enough and have soaked up the soy yoghurt and temper well.
4. Pair these Dahi Vadas with Aloo dum topped with chopped coriander, chaat masala, chopped onions, red chillies powder and a squeeze of lemon and you have the perfect Odia Street Food right at your home.
And here is how you make this famous Indian street food with a few steps. Do try out my recipe for Dahi Vada and let me know how it turned out to be. I would love to know how you liked it. It really makes me happy to see you try out my recipes. Don’t forget to tag @beextravegant on Instagram if you share a post or a story. See you at the next one!
Check my other Soy yoghurt based recipes here:
Vegan Odia Dahi Vada
Ingredients
For Vada
- 200 gram Urad dal (Whole) soaked
- 2 tbsp Rava sooji
- 1 tsp salt
- Oil to deep fry the Vada
Water to soak the Vadas
- 2 cups water
- 1 tsp Hing
- 1 tsp salt
For the yoghurt Mixture
- 2 cups soy yoghurt
- 1 knob ginger grated
- 1 tsp Hing
- Salt to taste
Tempering
- 1 tsp Neutral oil
- 1 tsp mustard seed
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal Split
- 2 Dry red chillies
- 1 green chilli Split lengthwise
- 10 – 15 curry leaves
Toppings
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp chaat masala
- Red onion finely chopped
- Coriander/Cilantro finely chopped
Instructions
For Vada
- Rinse and soak the urad daal in enough water for upto 4-5 hours.
- Grind the urad daal into a thick paste. Avoid adding too much water and keep it on the thicker end.
- Add Salt and Rava, mix well and set aside.
- Shape the batter into donut shape using your palms and finger. Dip your hands in water to help the batter from sticking to your hand.
- Heat enough oil to deep fry, close to 170C, and drop the Vadas one by one. Do not overcrowd the pan and make sure they don't stick to each other.
- Once all the Vadas have turned golden brown on both sides, remove and set aside to let the oil drain out.
- Soak the Vadas in Hing and salt spiced water for 2-3 minutes or until they have soaked up the water. Do not oversoak, we want the vadas to be soft, not soggy.
- Remove each vada one by one, while squeezing out the water, without ruining the shape. Set aside.
Tempering
- In a tempering pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, urad daal, dry red chillies, and green chillies.
- Once they turn fragrant and start chasing colour, turn off the heat and let it cool.
Yoghurt Mix
- In a bowl add soy yoghurt, water, grated ginger, hing and salt to taste. Mix well until the texture looks syrupy.
- Add the tempering on top of the yoghurt and mix well.
- Drop the squeeze Vadas in it one by one. Leave it in for some time before serving. Serve with a side of Aloo dum and toppings mentioned here.
Hey Anjali chechi my name is Sreeparvathy great fan of yours as I am from kerala and always wanted to start my own cooking chanell you are just the right inspirations. Really your content is amazing