Dahi Bhalla Recipe

4.48 from 21 votes

Golden brown Dahi Bhalla or Dahi vada is a popular street food across India. It's a favorite savory snack where lentil fritters are soaked in seasoned yogurt and topped with spicy chutneys. This lip-smacking street food is loved and relished by children and adults equally!

Prep: 10

Cook: 30

Rest: 6

Total: 6 40

Course: Sides

Cuisine: Indian

Servings:

Calories: 109kcal

Author: Ruchi

Ingredients

BHALLA INGREDIENTS

¾ cup Urad ki dhuli dal ( split black gram without skin)
¼ cup Yellow Moong Dal (Split yellow lentils)
½ teaspoon Salt
¾ teaspoon Roasted cumin seeds
3 tablespoons Water to grind the bhallas
- - Oil for frying

FOR YOGURT BASE

3 cups Yogurt
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon Red chili powder
¾ teaspoon Roasted cumin seeds , crushed
¾ teaspoon Sugar (optional)

GARNISHES

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

SOAK LENTILS

Rinse and soak the lentils for 6-7 hours or overnight. Make sure you use a large bowl to soak the lentils as they will double in size.
After the soak time is over, drain and rinse the lentils again.
Add the lentils to a food processor or blender, add 2 tablespoons water, and pulse into a fine paste.
Open the blender and scrape the lentils from the sides, add another tablespoon of water, and pulse again. Do not add all the water at once; add it in batches.
Pour just enough water to grind the dal into a thick yet fine paste. The batter should be thick and of dropping consistency.
Transfer the batter to a large mixing bowl and season it with cumin seeds and salt.
Whisk the Bhalla batter for about 5-6 minutes or until it is well aerated and double in size. You can use either a hand whisk, electric whisk, or a stand mixer to aerate the batter.
Take a small portion of the batter and drop it in a glass of water. If it floats on top, you are all set, but if it sinks, then you need to whisk for a few more minutes until you attain that texture. Perform the water test again and then proceed. Just remember the batter should FLOAT in water.

FRYING VADAS

Heat oil in a pan over medium heat.
Once the oil is hot, use an ice cream scoop and drop the Bhalla batter into the oil.
Fry the bhallas for about 7-8 minutes over medium-high heat, turning them occasionally until they turn golden brown.
Once cooked, remove them from the heat.
Set them on a paper napkin to drain. Let them cool.

SOAK DAHI BHALLAS

Add the cooled bhallas to a pan of hot water.
Cover and let them soak for about 15-20 minutes.
Bhallas will soak up the water, and double in size and become soft.
After the desired time is over, take each bhalla out of the warm water and gently press it between your plans to remove excess water. Set it on a plate. Repeat this process with all the bhallas.
Whisk chilled yogurt along with the spices until smooth. You can thin the yogurt with milk or water.
Pour yogurt into a deep dish. Add the Bhallas to the yogurt.
Cover the dahi bhallas with an extra layer of yogurt.
Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator. Dahi bhalla tastes good when chilled.
Just before serving, garnish with green chutney, tamarind chutney, pomegranate seeds, and thin sev.

Video

Notes

Recipe tips to make soft and fluffy Dahi Bhallas

Follow the measures below correctly, and you will make the perfect melt-in-your-mouth kind of Dahi Bhallas.

» Rinse - Always rinse the lentils until tap water until the water runs clear. Rinsing removes all the dust or debris.

» Use the right ratio- Use the combination of 3/4 urad dal and 1/4 yellow moong dal for best results. This gives our dahi bhallas a more pronounced flavor of urad dal in this recipe. However, you can always opt for half of yellow moong dal and half of urad dal to balance out the flavors.

» Consistency - The batter's consistency should be thick; therefore, be careful while adding the water. Please ensure that you do not add too much water to the batter at a time. Adding all the water at once will result in a runny batter that will be hard to fix.

» Spices - I prefer roasted cumin seeds to flavor the yogurt as it lends a nice earthy taste and flavor to dahi bhallas.

» Whisk - Whisk the bhalla batter for about 8-10 minutes with an electric beater or stand mixer until it's light and airy: just like a cake batter. This step is essential as whisking incorporates air into the batter, and the bhallas will turn out soft and fluffy.

» Equal-sized bhalla - To ensure that you get the same-sized bhallas every time, use an ice cream scoop. Fill the ice cream scoop with bhalla batter and drop it slowly into the oil. You can lightly grease the scoop for an easy slide-out of the batter.

» Oil temperature - Do not fry the bhallas on high heat. The oil should be medium-hot. To check that, drop a little batter in the oil; if it gently floats to the top, the oil is ready. Frying them in hot oil will result in uncooked bhallas. Likewise, if the bhallas are cooked in moderately hot oil, they will soak up oil.

» Fry in batches- Do not overcrowd the pan with too many bhallas. Leave some space around for the bhallas to expand during frying.

» Soak dahi Bhallas - Always soak the dahi bhallas in warm water for 15-20 minutes. Bhallas will expand when soaked, so be sure there is enough room and water in the pan for your bhallas to expand and double in size.

» Remove water - After the desired soak time is over, gently press the bhallas in between your palms to remove excess water. Handle the soaked bhallas gently as they are extremely soft at this point and may break if pressed hard.

» If you are short on time, you can soak the lentils in warm water for 3-4 hours.

Nutrition