Dahi-Vada | Authentic Mosaru-Vade Recipe

Usually every dish from the great big platter of Indian cuisine, generally is largely classified as either South-Indian or North-Indian. Dahi-Vada is among the very few that has an uniform appeal across the country and the surrounding regions. The appeal albeit uniform, there is still a little differentiation to classify it as South-Indian or North Indian. Known as Dahi-Bhalla in the North while the South knows it as Dahi-Vada, neither region can truly stake claim to it.

This is because the Vada is predominantly a South-Indian creation while it is believed that the method of serving the Vada soaked in yoghurt was conjured in North-India. The little yet evident differentiation in the two variants is the yoghurt which is flavoured differently. While the south-indian variant uses aromatics and spices to flavour it, the North-Indian version predominantly uses Tamarind chutney along with Mint-coriander chutney.

Talk about North and South, my search for the history and origin of this Dish, led me to an interesting fact! Description of a Dahi-Vada or something similar has been found in literature from 500 BC, and what is more interesting for me as a Mangalorean is that, a recipe for this dish was found mentioned in Manasollasa – a 12^th century Sanskrit encyclopedic work by Someshwara III. He was a Western (Kalyani) Chalukya King from 1126 – 1138 AD.

In the About section of this website, I had mentioned that Mangalore was ruled by rulers of various communities which also included the Portuguese and the British. The Western Chalukyas were among the major dynasties that ruled here until the Portuguese arrived on the scene. Interesting isn’t it? Wondering if the dish is North Indian or South Indian and to end up finding a fact that the recipe was mentioned in a book written by a King who once ruled over the present day Karnataka (of course Mangalore included).

How to make Dahi-Vada

The process of making the Dahi-Vada consists of four steps viz. Preparing the Vada, Pre-soaking the Vada, Preparing the Curd-dip and Soaking the Vada. Before we dive into the details; to the uninitiated, Dahi means Yoghurt/ Milk Curd while Vada is a Deep-fried lentil fritter. It is known as Mosaru (curd)– Vade in Kannada.

Wash & soak the Urad dal (Split Skinned Black Gram Lentils) for atleast a couple of hours in water. Drain it out and grind with minimal water (couple of tbsp) to a thick smooth paste. Transfer this to a bowl and proceed to aerating the batter. This is a crucial and important step to achieve soft airy vadas! Use a whisk or a hand-held mixer and beat the batter till it is smooth, shiny and fluffy like a well beaten Meringue.

You can test the readiness of the batter by dropping a marble sized ball into a bowl of water. If it floats, the batter is ready. Add the aromatics and spices and other ingredients as mentioned in the detailed recipe, gently mix well and set aside. Heat oil to medium-hot and drop lemon sized dough-balls into the oil and fry till they turn golden brown and crispy on the outside. Transfer to an absorbent towel to drain off excess oil.

Transfer the vadas to a bowl of recently boiled warm-water and keep them dipped for about 10 mins, until you finish preparing the Curd-dip. Dipping them in warm water, helps to puff up the Vadas even more and drain out the excess oil from it. At the end of 10 minutes, gently squeeze the Vadas to drain the excess water and keep aside.

For the curd dip, beat the yoghurt along with water, sugar and salt to a smooth flowing (not runny) consistency. Fry the tempering ingredients in a little oil until they turn aromatic and pour it over the curd-solution along with some chopped coriander and mix well.

Transfer the Vadas into the tempered curd solution and gently mix until the Vadas are fully coated with the curds. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavours to blend and for the Vadas to absorb the curd solution.

It is possible to make the Vadas well ahead of time. Once fried and cooled to room temperature, do not dip them in the warm water but instead place them in an air-tight container and freeze for upto a month. When you want to serve them, take them out, put them in the warm water bath and then into the curd dip and let sit for couple of hours and serve!

How to serve Dahi-Vada

In a small deep-dish, place a vada and ladle out a portion of the Curd-dip onto the Vada. Garnish with a sprinkle of Paprika and a spoonful of home-made Khaara Boondi and some fresh chopped coriander leaves. Enjoy this chilled delight for breakfast or as a snack!

Dahi Vada

Jason Alfred Castelino @ www.oneplateplease.com

Deep-fried Lentil Fritters dipped and soaked in a savoury, tempered curd-dip!

5 from 2 votes

Prep Time 3 hours hrs

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Refrigeration Time 2 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Course Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine Indian cuisine, karnataka cuisine, South Indian

Servings 20 portions

Ingredients

  

For the Vada:

• 2 Cups Urad Dal (Split Skinned Black Gram Lentils), washed and soaked in water for 2-3 hours and then drained
• Water, for grinding
• 1 pc Cayenne Pepper (or 3 Green Chillies), finely chopped
• 2 inch Ginger, finely chopped/ grated
• ⅓ Cup Fresh Coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 10 pc Black Peppercorn, freshly ground
• 2 sprig Curry leaves, finely chopped
• ⅓ Cup Dry Coconut, thinly cut into wedges
• 2 tsp Salt, adjust to taste
• Vegetable Oil, for frying

For Soaking the Vada:

• 2 litres (approx.) Water, recently boiled

For the Curd-Dip:

• 1.5 kgs Yoghurt, around 4% fat
• 1 Cup Water, divided
• ¼ Cup Sugar, granulated
• 1 tsp Salt, adjust to taste

For Tempering the Curd-Dip:

• 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 tbsp Mustard
• 1 tbsp Urad Dal
• 1 tbsp Cumin
• ⅛ tsp Hing (Asafoetida)
• 2 pc Dry red Chillies (Long), roughly shredded
• 2 sprig Curry Leaves roughly shredded
• 1 pc Cayenne Pepper (or 3 Green Chillies), minced
• 2 inch Ginger, minced
• ½ Cup Fresh Coriander leaves, finely chopped

Optional – For the Garnish:

• Paprika/ kashmiri Chilli powder, as required
• 2 Cups Khara boondi
• ¼ Cup Fresh Coriander leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

 

Making the Vada Batter:

• Grind the soaked and drained urad dal using a couple of tbsp of water to a thick but smooth paste.
• Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl, and with the help of a hand-held mixer, beat it for 3-4 mins until the batter turns smooth and fluffy. (see notes)
• Add the Cayenne Pepper (chilli), ginger, chopped coriander, peppercorn, curry leaves, coconut wedges and salt and mix well.

Deep-frying the Vada:

• While preparing the batter, parallelly take sufficient oil for deep frying and heat it to medium-hot
• With wet hands, take lemon sized portions of the batter and drop them into the hot oil
• Deep-fry the vadas until they turn golden brown and crispy on the outside
• Transfer them to an absorbent kitchen towel to drain-off the excess oil
• Transfer the vadas to a bowl of recently boiled water and keep them dipped for about 10 mins, until you finish preparing the Curd-dip.
• At the end of 10 mins, gently squeeze the vadas to drain the excess water and keep aside.

Making the Curd-dip:

• Beat the yoghurt along with water, sugar and salt to a smooth flowing consistency.
• In a fying pan, heat the vegetable oil and splutter the mustard seeds, followed by the urad dal, cumin, hing, dry-red chillies, curry leaves, cayenne pepper and ginger
• Fry until the mixture turns aromatic. Ensure not to burn the ingredients.
• Pour this tempering over the beaten curd solution along with the chopped coriander and mix well until well combined.

Making the Dahi-Vada:

• Transfer the Vadas into the tempered curd-dip and gently mix until the vadas are well coated with the curd-dip
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate for atleast a couple of hours until the flavours have blended well and the curd has absorbed into the vadas

Serving the Dahi-Vada:

• In a small deep-dish, place a vada and ladle out a portion of the Curd-dip onto the Vada.
• Garnish with a sprinkle of Paprika and a spoonful of Khaara Boondi and some fresh coriander leaves.
• Enjoy!

Notes

• You can test the readiness of the batter by dropping a marble sized ball into a bowl of water. If it floats, the batter is ready.
• Dipping them in warm water, helps to puff up the Vadas even more and drain out the excess oil from it.
• It is possible to make the Vadas well ahead of time. Once fried and cooled to room temperature, do not dip them in the warm water but instead place them in an air-tight container and freeze for upto a month. When you want to serve them, take them out, put them in the warm water bath and then into the curd dip and let sit for couple of hours and serve

Keyword Curd Vada, Dahi Bhalla, Dahi Vada

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