Dahi Vada, a most popular snack prepared all over India is a cooling and soothing dish. Dumplings made with black lentils are soaked in a buttermilk sauce. In Southern India, the buttermilk sauce is spicy while in the North it is sweet. Both the variations are delicious. It can be served as a snack, appetizer or at the end of a huge meal.
Vadas can also be served without soaking in buttermilk, along with a chutney. This the most popular snack in Southern India. Dahi Vada is mostly made with leftover vadas.
The process to get soft vadas that has completely absorbed the buttermilk is the important part of making dahi vada. A hard vada that is not soaked through with the tangy buttermilk will be useless. A perfect dahi vada should melt in the mouth.
To attain the perfectness of "melt in your mouth dahi vadas" you need to soak the vada first in hot water for five to ten minutes. This step is crucial so don't skip it. After the soaking you'll find the vadas have softened and fluffed up.
Vadas are traditionally deep fried. They are oily and you cannot eat too many of them. In this recipe I have Air fried them. Therefore, these vadas are very nutritious. The black Lentils that is used to make these vadas have a lot of health benefits. By air frying these vadas we are avoiding the fat.
Just make sure the batter is thick otherwise it will leak through the perforated plate at the bottom of the air fryer basket.
Ingredients:
Vada batter 1 cup
Buttermilk 1 cup
Yogurt 1/4 cup
Sliced Onion 2 tbsps
Sliced Green Chili 1
Minced Ginger 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder, a pinch
Salt
Oil 2 tbsps
Preheat air fryer at 350° F for 5 minutes.
Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with oil.
Add one tablespoon of the oil to the vada batter and mix well.
Place tablespoons full of the vada batter on the bottom of the air fryer.
Fry for five minutes or until vadas are done.
Soak the vadas in hot water for five minutes.
Mix in the turmeric powder, salt and yogurt to the buttermilk. Mix well.
Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil in a a small pan.
Add mustard seeds to the hot oil. When it pops add the onion, green chili and ginger. Fry until onions are lightly browned.
Add the fried stuff to the buttermilk mixture. Mix
Gently squeeze out as much water as you can from the vadas. Drop them into the buttermilk sauce. Let them sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. The vadas should have soaked thoroughly in the buttermilk sauce.
Serve garnished with chopped cilantro.
Make Vadas in Air fryer. |
Add yogurt,turmeric and salt to the buttermilk. Mix. |
Pop the mustard seeds and fry rest of the ingredients. |
Add fried ingredients to buttermilk mixture. |
Soak the vadas in hot water for 5 minutes. |
Add soaked vadas into the buttermilk sauce. |