Doi Boda / Dahi Vada

Dahi vada (also known as thayir vada in Tamil and perugu gari in Telugu, mosaru vade in Kannada and Doi Boda in Bengali) is an Indian chaat, prepared by soaking vadas in thick yogurt (dahi / doi).
It is a great starter or can be served as a cold appetizer, prepared from lentil (black gram / urad dal) based fried balls soaked in yogurt mixture and sprinkled with spices like chilli powder, roasted cumin powder, chaat masala, rock salt (kala namak), grated coconut, chopped coriander leaves and often served with tamarind chutney.
The hot deep fried vadas are first put in water and then transferred to thick beaten yogurt. For best results, soak the vadas for at least a couple of hours before serving.

Here is my version of preparing Doi Boda...

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups black Urad Daal without skin (black lentils)
• 3 cups curd / dahi / yoghurt (ensure that curd is not too sour)
• water (to make curd mixture)
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2" piece of ginger grated
• 2-3 green chillies (to taste), finely chopped
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tsp red chilli powder (to taste)
• 1 tbsp chaat masala (to taste)
• 2 tbsp roasted cumin seeds powder
• white oil, for deep frying the vadas
• chopped coriander leaves to garnish
• tamarind chutney
• green (dhania-pudina chutney)

Procedure:

1. Soak the urad daal in a bowl with enough water for 12 hours (preferably overnight). Drain water and combine the soaked lentil with grated ginger, green chillies and a pinch of salt and grind it into a course paste (add a little water, but ensure not to add too much of water).
2. Beat the ground lentil batter well for quite sometime to a thick lentil batter.
3. Combine curd / yogurt, water, salt, sugar and a pinch of red chili powder, chaat masala, roasted cumin seeds powder and mix well to form a smooth yogurt mixture. Keep aside.
4. Heat oil in a deep-bottomed kadhai,
5. Grease your palms with a little oil and put a ladle of lentil batter and form a round shape.
6. Carefully make an impression in the middle by inserting your fingers to form a vada in the shape of doughnut.
7. Slide each vada into the hot oil, deep fry on medium flame till light golden.
8. Remove these deep fried bodas (vadas), drain excess oil and transfer them into a bowl of luke warm water and place them in it for 5-10 mins. Remove and gently press between your palms to squeeze out the excess water. Keep aside.
9. Finish making vadas with the rest of the remaining batter in the above mentioned process (repeat from step 5-8).
10. Arrange the soaked vadas in a serving platter, pour the curd / yogurt mixture evenly over them to cover the vadas completely. Chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.
11. To serve, put 1 or 2 Dahi Vadas in a plate, sprinkle chaat masala and garnish with bhujiya / sev, chopped coriander leaves and tamarind chutney and green chutney.

Tips: It’s best to serve with the spices and chutneys separately so that one can help himself as per taste and preference.

Sending this to the Sunday Snacks - Chaats/Indian Street Food event, hosted by Pallavi of All Things Yummy!