Pillowy soft Dahi Bhalla are just what you need for a gathering or for serving as special treat. In this post, I m sharing how to make the softest Dahi Bhalle, step by step.
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Popularly called as Dahi Bara and Dahi Vada, this classic dish is so easy to make if you follow the proportions and the technique. I learned this from my Punjabi neighbor back when we used to live in Baroda.
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Aunty used to visit every winter and indulge us in many delicious dishes including her signature Aloo Ke Parathe and these Dahi Bhalle. Over the years, I have mastered this recipe by learning from my mistakes. So today, I will be sharing all of that Dahi Vada wisdom.
Ingredients
To make soft Bhalla
- Urad Dal– We are going to be using whole white Urad Dal for this recipe. I have experimented this recipe with both split and whole Urad. Whole Urad yields more quantity and the batter is fluffier too.
- Moong Dal– Unlike the south Indian Medhu Vada, this recipe uses a combination of Urad and Moong. Again, we will use split yellow moong lentils for making our Bhalle today.
- Aromatics and spices– Ginger, green chilis and cumin are an integral part of this recipe. These ingredients not only add flavor but also help in easy digestion.
To assemble Dahi Bhalla Chaat
Since this is a very street-food style chaat recipe, we will be using green chutney, tamarind and date chutney, a combination of ground spices and some crushed chili flakes.
If you know me, I m all about taking a few shortcuts in life and this extends to cooking too. For this Chaat, I have used store-bought date tamarind chutney and green chutney.
Detailed quantities and information on the ingredients used can be found in the recipe card.
Serving suggestions
There are two ways to serve these Dahi Bada. You can serve them as they are with a generous sprinkle of chaat masala, roasted cumin powder, chili powder and finely chopped cilantro leaves on the top.
Or you can serve them as a Chaat like I have mentioned in this recipe. However you choose to do it, this dish tastes best when served chilled.
Freezing Bhalla
Fried bhalla freezes beautifully. To freeze them, allow them to cool completely after you fry them. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe box or a food-safe silicon bag. Frozen Bhalla keeps well for 3 months.
To use frozen bhalle, dunk the frozen pieces into a bowl of hot water. Allow them to remain in the hot water for 20 to 30 minutes until they become completely soft.
When done, drain and squeeze them gently between your palms. Dunk them in chilled yogurt and proceed with assembling.
Tips to make perfectly soft Dahi Bhalla
- Soak the lentils for at least 4 hours- When you soak them longer, they require less water for grinding.
- Use the correct amount of water to grind- Too much water while grinding will make them soggy after frying and too little water will make the bhalla hard.
- Add salt and aromatics- when grinding the batter. If you add salt after grinding, the batter tends to become watery
- Aerate the batter- The secret to fluffy vada is this step. Use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or a hand-held whisk/ electric whisk for this. Whisk the batter until it almost doubles in volume.
- Correct oil temperature– The oil should not be smoking hot and neither should it be warm. To check whether the oil has heated up to the correct temperature, drop a small ball of batter into the oil. If it floats up immediately, then the temperature is perfect.
- Fry at low heat– When it comes to deep frying, low heat gives the correct and even results. If you fry on high flame, only the outside will be cooked. If you fry on medium flame, there is a chance that the vadas will not be fully cooked.
- Golden brown- Make sure that you fry the vadas on low heat till they turn golden. Do not drain them while they are a dull brown.
- Dunk them in hot water- Once you have fried them, drain them on paper towels. Allow them to cool down for 2 minutes. Then dunk them in hot water and let them to stay in it for 5 minutes. After 5 mins, gently squeeze them between your palms to squeeze out all the excess water. Then dunk them in chilled yogurt. This step will give you the softest Bhallas.
Method
Wash and soak the lentils
Combine the Urad dal and moong dal in a colander. Wash them under running water twice. Now, place the washed dals in a mixing bowl. Add about 6 cups water and allow them to soak for 4 to 6 hours.
Grind the Vada batter
The lentils will look plump after soaking. Drain the hydrated lentils in a colander. Transfer the soaked lentils along with peeled and chopped ginger, salt and green chilis to a blender jar.
If your jar is small, you can grind them in two batches and mix them up in theend. Now, add 2 tbsp at a time and grind the dal to a smooth paste. Stop every 2 minutes, scrape down the sides, add water by the tbsp if necessary and continue to grind.
For the quantity of dal mentioned here, I have used 1/2 cup water to grind the batter. This may differ based on the quality and age of your lentils.
Whisking the batter
Transfer the batter to the bowl of your stand mixer and add 1 tsp cumin seeds. Attach the whisk attachment and whisk the batter on medium speed for 5 to 6 minutes. You will see that the batter changes to a whitish color and becomes fluffier as it gets whisked.
After 6 minutes of whisking, the batter will look white and have doubled in volume. See the pic above. It was after whisking and I felt that it needed some more cumin. Kindly ignore that. To check whether the batter is ready, drop a small blob of batter in a bowl of cold water. If it floats without disintegrating, the batter is ready to be fried.
Frying the Bhalle
Heat oil in a pan or Kadai. I love my iron Kadai for deep frying. You will need roughly 400 ml of any neutral flavored vegetable oil for frying these Bhalle.
Test the temperature of the oil by dropping a small blob of batter into the oil. If it rises up immediately, it is the right temperature. Now, using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, drop the batter in little portions into the hot oil.
Reduce the flame to low heat. Fry by flipping the vadas every few minutes until they become golden brown. A batch of 10 small vadas took me about 6 to 8 minutes for frying.
Once done, drain them on a paper towel and allow them to cool for 2 minutes.
Prep the yogurt
In a wide mixing bowl, add the yogurt, salt and some red chili powder. Whisk well until the yogurt is smooth and has no lumps. Keep this chilled until the vadas are ready.
Soaking the fried bade in hot water
While the first batch of vadas are getting fried, heat up 6 cups of water. The water should just be hot. No need to boil it till bubbling.
As soon as the vadas are done frying and are cool enough to handle with your bare hands, dunk them in the hot water. Allow them to stay in the hot water for 5 to 6 minutes. After soaking for this time, they will have expanded.
Now, drain them from the water using a slotted ladle. Squeeze them gently between your palms, taking care not to break them. Now, drop these into the chilled yogurt. Mix gently to make sure that the yogurt coats them evenly.
Repeat with the remaining vadas. Let sit till ready to assemble.
How to make Dahi Bhalla Chaat?
Combine the red chili powder, chaat masala, black salt and roasted cumin powder in a mixing bowl.
To assemble this as a chaat, place the yogurt-soaked Bhalle in a bowl. Sprinkle chili flakes. Now, add 1 to 2 tbsp of green chutney and the tamarind date chutney. Feel free to adjust the quantity as per your preferences. If you like more of a sweet Dahi Vada chaat, add more date chutney.
Finish by sprinkling the mix of Chaat masala, roasted cumin powder, black salt and finely chopped cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.
More Chaat Recipes
Recipe Card
Dahi Bhalla
Equipment
- Blender
- Whisk/ stand mixer/ hand-held electric whisk
- Frying Pan
- Colander
- Slotted ladle
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
For the bhalla
- 1 cup whole white urad dal
- 1/2 cup split yellow moong dal
- 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
- 3 green chilis serrano chilis work well here.
- 1.5 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 cup chilled water approximately
For the yogurt
- 2.75 cups chilled low fat yogurt whisked smoothly
- 2 tsp red chili powder
- 1.75 tsp salt or to taste
For Dahi Bhalla Chaat
- 3/4 cup green chutney
- 3/4 cup Date and tamarind chutney
- 1.5 tsp red chili powder
- 1.5 tsp chaat masala powder
- 1.5 tsp roasted cumin powder
- 1.5 tsp black salt
- 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
Instructions
Wash and soak the lentils
- Combine the Urad dal and moong dal in a colander.
- Wash them under running water twice.
- Place the washed dals in a mixing bowl.
- Add about 6 cups water and allow them to soak for 4 to 6 hours.
Grind the Vada batter
- Drain the hydrated lentils in a colander.
- Transfer the soaked lentils along with peeled and chopped ginger, salt and green chilis to a blender jar.
- Add 2 tbsp at a time and grind the dal to a smooth paste.
- Stop every 2 minutes, scrape down the sides, add water by the tablespoon if necessary and continue to grind.
Whisking the batter
- Transfer the batter to the bowl of a stand mixer and add 1 tsp cumin seeds.
- Attach the whisk attachment and whisk the batter on medium speed for 5 to 6 minutes.
- After 6 minutes of whisking, the batter will look white and have doubled in volume.
- To check whether the batter is ready, drop a small blob of batter in a bowl of cold water.
- If it floats without disintegrating, the batter is ready to be fried.
Prep the yogurt
- In a wide mixing bowl, add the yogurt, salt and some red chili powder.
- Whisk well until the yogurt is smooth and has no lumps.
- Keep this chilled until the vadas are ready.
- Frying the Bhalle
- Heat oil in a pan or Kadai. I love my iron Kadai for deep frying.
- Test the temperature of the oil by dropping a small blob of batter into the oil.
- If it rises up immediately, it is the right temperature.
- Now, using a spoon or a small cookie scoop, drop the batter in little portions into the hot oil.
- Reduce the flame to low heat.
- Fry by flipping the vadas every few minutes until they become golden brown.
- A batch of 10 small vadas takes 6 to 8 minutes for frying
- Once done, drain them on a paper towel and allow them to cool for 2 minutes.
Soaking the fried bade in hot water
- While the first batch of vadas are getting fried, heat up 6 cups of water. T
- As soon as the vadas are done frying and are cool enough to handle with your bare hands, dunk them in the hot water. Allow them to stay in the hot water for 5 to 6 minutes.
- After 6 minutes, drain them from the water using a slotted ladle.
- Squeeze them gently between your palms, taking care not to break them.
- Now, drop these into the chilled yogurt.
- Mix gently to make sure that the yogurt coats them evenly.
- Repeat with the remaining vadas.
- Let sit till ready to assemble.
How to make Dahi Bhalla Chaat?
- Combine the chaat masala, red chili powder, roasted cumin powder, black salt in a mixing bowl.
- Place the yogurt-soaked Bhalle in a bowl.
- Sprinkle chili flakes.
- Now, add 1 to 2 tbsp of green chutney and the tamarind date chutney.
- Finish by sprinkling a mix of Chaat masala, roasted cumin powder, black salt and finely chopped cilantro leaves.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- This recipe makes 70 small vadas. I fried 10 in each batch.
- Use chilled water for grinding. This helps in keeping the vadas soft.
- You can also use yogurt that has higher fat content for a creamier and richer version.
- Once the vadas have been assembled with the sauces and the spice powders, I recommend serving them immediately.
- Always keep the yogurt and the vadas dunked in yogurt chilled. This is especially important if you live in a tropical country. When left at room temperature for a long period of time, the yogurt becomes sour.
- Read the blog post for detailed tips and techniques to make perfect and soft dahi bhallas.
For Instant Pot & Air Fryer Recipes
Instant Pot timings may vary based on your geographic location. Air fryer settings and timings may vary based on the capacity and the model of the Air fryer.
Disclaimer
Nutrition values are provided here as a courtesy and are only a rough guide. Please consult a health care provider if you have any concerns.
Nutrition
Why are my Dahi Vadas hard?
The first reason is that the batter has not been aerated well. When we whisk the batter, it forms these little pockets of air bubbles. These in turn make the batter fluffy. This is what makes the vadas soft. So do not skip whisking the batter.
Other common reason for this is that you added very little water while grinding. Other reasons include frying them for too long, not adding moong dal and not soaking the dals for long enough.
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