Dahi Bade
My mom only prepares it for the festival of Eid. I would always steal some “phulkiyan (fried balls)”, while my mom is frying them and would eat in a clandestine manner, so my other siblings won’t notice. But every time, I would be caught. I came to Germany and became an adult. A girl who used to eat at least 8–10 pieces or maybe more at a time, now eats only one to taste and examine, while frying. There are a lot of terms used in India specifying fried balls as ‘vadas’, ‘bhalle’, ‘bade’, ‘phulkiyan’ and I am sure more terms are used, but we call it “Dahi Bade”. ‘Dahi’ means yoghurt and it is used like this only, probably, in India.
10
servings25
minutes20
minutes45
minutesIngredients
- FOR BHALLAS
300 grams 300 Moong dal and 100 grams of urad dal (lentils)
1/4 tsp 1/4 salt
A handful of cashews
1 tsp 1 cumin seeds
1/2 litre 1/2 cooking oil
- DAHI
1000 ml 1000 Yoghurt
1/2 tsp 1/2 black salt
1/2 tsp 1/2 cumin seeds
1/4 tsp 1/4 black pepper
- TAMARIND SAUCE
1/2 cup 1/2 tamarind pulp
2 cups 2 water
1 cup 1 sugar
1 tsp 1 chilli flakes
1 tsp 1 ginger powder
1 tsp 1 black pepper
1 tsp 1 roasted cumin seeds powder
1/2 tsp 1/2 black salt (or to taste)
Directions
- For Bhallas: Wash both lentils and soak them overnight. Next day, blend the lentils to make a thick fine paste. Use as little water as possible, just to help blend them and leave the batter overnight for fermentation.
- Next day, add ¼ teaspoon salt and whisk the batter for 5–10 minutes, in one direction, until it becomes fluffy and pale. Put a drop of batter in lukewarm water, if it floats, it’s ready. Add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, a handful of chopped cashews to the batter and mix.
- Now, to fry the balls, heat the oil, scoop out some batter and drop it in the oil, using your hands. Fry them at medium heat, until they become light golden brown and take them out using a spider.
- (You can now freeze these balls in the freezer to consume later.)
(You can also enjoy them like this while they’re hot or your children can steal them at this stage.) - Soak the balls in hot water for a few minutes, so they become soft, gently squeeze them to remove excess water and place them in the serving bowl. Sprinkle fresh coriander for presentation.
- For Dahi (Yoghurt): In plain yoghurt, add ½ teaspoon roasted cumin seeds powder, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and ½ teaspoon black salt (or to taste). Mix it well.
- For Tamarind chutney (sauce): In ½ cup of tamarind pulp add 2 cups of water, 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, 1 teaspoon ginger powder, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds powder, ½ teaspoon black salt (or to taste). Cook it all together until it becomes a thick paste.
- Serving: Take 2–3 phulkiyan in a serving bowl, add the prepared dahi (yoghurt), a little bit of tamarind chutney and enjoy. You can also add a few chopped bananas or pomegranate seeds over it to garnish.
- It can be eaten as a small dinner, as a cheese course, or as you wish
- Note: Salt in ‘phulkiyan’ will be less, since the salt will be there in yoghurt and tamarind sauce. Cashews are optional. You can adjust the spices according to your taste of liking.
Equipment
- Blender
- Deep frying pan or wok
- Spider skimmer
- Saucepan
- Mixing bowls
Notes
- Plan ahead: the lentils need to soak overnight and the batter ferments overnight as well.
- You can freeze the fried balls to consume later.
- Salt in the ‘phulkiyan’ should be kept low, since there is already salt in the yoghurt and tamarind sauce. Cashews are optional and the spices can be adjusted to taste.
- It can be eaten as a small dinner, as a cheese course, or as you wish.