Dahi Vada Recipe | How to Make Dahi Vada

Dahi vada also known as dahi bhalla is a delightful street food. It is also regularly made in my home especially around festivals. I have shared both deep fried and air fryer dahi vada recipes.

It is my favourite Holi recipe as well as Diwali recipe. It does not require much time to make but does need prior preparation.

I generally make a large batch of vada as we eat some vadas as snacks.

Then the others are made as dahi bada in batches so that we can relish them over 1-2 days.

You may also like: medu vada in air fryer, air fryer namak paare, air fryer kachori, air fryer vada pav, Aloo tikki chaat.

Step-by-step Pictures

Soak 1 cup urad dal in 3 cups water for 4-6 hours.

Drain the husked black gram lentils. Keep aside.

Grind it with ginger, green chillies and asafetida in a blender till you get a smooth paste.

Preferably use just about 1-2 tablespoon water. The batter must be smooth but not runny.

The mix is smooth and thick.

Add salt and 1 tsp. oil (if Air frying) and beat it well till the mix becomes nice and fluffy.

I beat for about 3 minutes.

This step is important so that your vadas are fluffy, light and soft.

If deep frying, no need to add oil to the batter.

For Deep Frying

Heat oil and using a spoon, make roundish vadas that you slowly tip in the medium hot oil.

Fry in medium hot vegetable oil. About 2-3 minutes each side till they are done.

Now drain them and keep on a paper towel.

For Air frying

Preheat Air fryer to 150 C or 300 F for 4 minutes.

On a parchment paper, using a spoon make flat roundish balls leaving some distance in between as these grow in size when cooked.

Air fry at 150 C or 300 F for 8 minutes.

The vadas will become larger in size and look half cooked.

Apply oil on both sides and flip.

Then increase the temperature to 180 C or 360 F and air fry for 6- 8 minutes so that they get browned and well cooked.

Your air fried fluffy and soft vadas are ready. You can have them as it is with chutney which is what we do sometimes. 🙂

These are lighter and flatter than deep fried ones but they taste really good, light and fluffy.

To assemble dahi vadas

Soak vadas in lukewarm water for 10 minutes.

The vadas turn lighter when soaked in warm water.

Now take them out and drain each vada in between your palms to take out all the water.

Arrange the vadas in a shallow dish.

Now take the yogurt and beat it well.

Add salt, black salt, sugar, chat masala, red chilli powder and cumin powder.

Mix well and taste. Adjust seasoning as per taste.

To serve, pour the sweetened yoghurt all over the vadas so that they are completely covered.

Sprinkle green chutney and tamarind chutney on top as per taste. I also sprinkle a little cumin powder and red chilli powder on top.

Dahi vadas are ready to serve. Enjoy.

📖 Recipe Card

Dahi Vada Recipe | How to Make Dahi Bhalla

Rachna Parmar

Dahi vada or dahi bhalla is a popular street food from North India which is also made during Holi and Diwali. Try my deep fried or Air fryer recipe.

5 from 10 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 minutes mins

Soaking time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 21 minutes mins

Course Accompaniment | Appetizer, Side Dish/Accompaniment

Cuisine North Indian

Servings 16

Calories 70 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• For vadas
• 1 cup urad dal or husked black gram soaked for 4-5 hours
• 1 pinch asafetida or hing
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tsp. ginger
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp. oil for Air frying
• For Dahi
• 2 cup yogurt
• 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. black salt
• 1 tsp. chat masala
• 1 tsp. red chilli powder or cayenne
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin powder
• salt to taste
• For garnish
• Green chutney
• Tamarind chutney
• Cumin powder
• cayenne

Instructions

 

• Drain the husked black gram lentils.
• Grind it with ginger, green chillies and asafetida in a blender till you get a smooth paste.
• Preferably use just about 1-2 tablespoon water.
• The mix should not be runny just smooth.
• Add salt and mix well with a spoon about 3 minutes till the lentil mix becomes fluffy. This is important so that the vadas are soft and fluffy.

For deep frying

• Heat oil in a kadhai/pan. Deep fry the vadas till golden brown. I just use a spoon to make roundish vadas. Drain them and keep them aside.

For Air Frying

• Add 1 tsp. oil in the lentil batter and mix well to aerate. Preheat Air fryer to 150 C or 300 F for 4 minutes.
• On a parchment paper, using a spoon make flat roundish balls leaving some distance in between as these grow in size when cooked. Air fry at 150 C or 300 F for 8 minutes.
• Vadas will be half cooked by now. Brush oil on both sides and flip vadas.
• Then air fry at 180 C or 360 F for 6-8 minutes so that they get browned and well cooked. Your air fried fluffy and soft vadas are ready. what we do sometimes. 🙂 Or keep them aside and proceed further.
• You can have them as it is with chutney which is

To assemble dahi vada

• Take some lukewarm water in a bowl and dip the vadas in them. They will absorb water, swell up and become lighter in colour.
• Soak them for about 10 minutes.
• Now take them out and drain each vada in between your palms to take out all the water.
• Arrange the vadas in a shallow dish.
• Now take the yogurt and beat it well. Add salt, black salt, sugar, chat masala, red chilli powder and cumin powder. Mix well and taste. Adjust seasoning as per taste.
• To serve, pour the sweetened yoghurt all over the vadas so that they are completely covered.
• Pour green chutney and tamarind chutney on top as per taste.
• I also sprinkle a little cumin powder and red chilli powder on top.
• Serve cold.

Tamarind chutney recipe

• To make tamarind chutney, take 1 tsp. oil in a pan. Heat it and add 1 tsp. of cumin. Let it sputter. Now add 1 bowl tamarind juice extract. Add ½ tsp. dry ginger powder, 1 tsp. chilli powder and one pinch asafetida. Add some salt as well. Cook for some time and add 5 tbsp. of jaggery to this. Let it cook till this dissolves and the chutney bubbles. Take it off the stove and cool down. Serve cold.

Notes

1.I don’t put sweet chutney when I serve my dahi vadas. Since the dahi is already slightly sweetened, it works well.

2. If you wish to serve small quantities, then keep the lentil batter in the fridge and only fry as many vadas as you need. Once they are soaked, you can’t store them for long.

3. You can buy tamarind chutney from store if you don’t want to make it. Otherwise I have shared the recipe above.

4. You can air fry or bake the vadas. I felt no difference in the taste. They were super fluffy and soft and air frying really cuts down the calories. 

Nutrition

Calories: 70kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 4gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 154mgPotassium: 59mgFiber: 3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 162IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 47mgIron: 1mg

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