Ramadan Special Dahi Vade

Ramadan mein Kaun bade? Dahi Bade!

My granny used to ask this question every day to us, and as kids, we used to reply to her with a lot of energy….Dahi Bade. Feeling nostalgic!

On the weekend I visited my mom's place and I am here after a long time. My mom took all the pain to prepare, "Dahi Vade" for me as she knew that it's my favourite and I used to hop on it as a child every day during Iftar.

That's when the thought came to my mind that I should make you all familiar with it. Here I am sharing one of my favourite recipe which is prepared more often in my mom's kitchen.

Iftaar menu at my mom's place is a bit heavy and healthy as my brothers are big foodies and my dad is health conscious. The menu consists of dates, boiled chana or dal, fruit salad, any drink and any savoury recipe…..which mainly include pakoday made with spinach/potatoes/onions or egg etc. One recipe which is my all-time favourite during Ramadan Iftaar time is 'Dahi Vade/Bade.'

The name 'Dahi Vade' leaves me drooling…Deep fried vada's which are made by soaking and grinding black gram, topped with creamy and spicy yoghurt sauce which easy to prepare and doesn't consume much time. After fasting for the whole day the yoghurt soothes the stomach and the vada's leave you filling.

I used to watch my mom preparing this delicacy every day and has actually mastered it, here I am sharing her version of the recipe.

DAHI VADA or VADE

Ingredients for Vade

• 1 cup Urad dal, washed and soaked in water for 6 hrs.

• 1 Green chilli, chopped

• Oil for frying

• Salt to taste

Ingredients for Yoghurt Sauce

 4 cups thick Yogurt/Dahi

 2 Green chilli, chopped

 Mint and coriander leaves finely minced

 Salt

For Tampering

 ½ tsp Cumin seeds

 4-5 Red dried chillies

 Few curry leaves

 A pinch of Turmeric powder

Procedure to make

 Whisk yoghurt and add chopped green chilli, minced coriander leaves, coriander powder and salt. Mix well and set aside. This is our yoghurt sauce.

 Drain off the water from soaked black gram and grind it to paste. Add salt and green chilli to it mix well and keep it aside. This is your vada batter.

 Take a bowl of water and ¼ of tsp of salt in it, you will need this to soak the fried vadas to make them softer

Start making vade

 Pour enough oil in a deep pan, heat up the oil once the oil turns piping hot, reduce the flame to medium.

 Apply some oil or water to your hands and take a lemon sized ball from the batter, flatten it to form a circle and make a hole in the centre with your thumb.

 Carefully drop it into the hot oil and fry on both the sides on a medium flame, till the vada gets a nice golden colour.

 Once the vadas are completely cooked take them out into a bowl of water. Leave them for 2-3 minutes.

 Now gently squeeze the excess water from the vada's and put it in the yoghurt sauce.

 After frying all the vadas, you need to tamper the vadas

 In that hot oil add some cumin seeds, 4-5 red dried chillies, curry leaves and a pinch of turmeric.

 After tampering, serve these vadas in smaller sized bowls.

 Garnish it with mint and coriander leaves

Now the tasty and yummy vadas are ready for the Iftar. Hope you like it.