Soft Dahi Wadas

Eid calls for outings on chaand raat to get stamps of heena on my palms, buying bangles and intense shopping and amazing food. The glittery bangles are always rough on my skin and clothing, so I prefer the plain matte kinds. There are boxes holding an array of multicolored bangles, illuminated by naked light bulbs suspended on a slim wire. I am not a person who makes multiple visits to the tailor to retrieve clothes that never get stitched on time. I and hashim dislike tailor troubles and this task requires a lot of patience, so we take a shorter route and buy the readymade attire for Eid. And my Eid day becomes a special day when hashim surprises me with fresh and perfumed jasmine bangles.

Eid is a time of celebration with a platter of biryani, bbq, and endless bowls of sevaiyan. It is a pudding of vermicelli in thickened creamy milk, though me, and hashim aren’t a great fan of milk reduction sweets. Hashim assuage his dessert cravings with dahi wadays, my mama had given me a short and simple recipe, one in which the ingredients were standard so I had to feel my way through the recipe. Dahi wadas are not difficult to make provided you follow some essential rules.

The first one is to use yogurt which is not at all sour, the second one is to make chickpea flour batter thick in texture, runny batter will not give you intact wada results, as soon as you soak this improper wadas in the yogurt mixture will make them soft and end up losing its original shape, another essential is patience. The process of making the batter, frying the wada balls, soaking them in water, and making the yogurt mixture is languid. So only make this when you know you have an hour of undivided attention. Lastly, do not be tempted to substitute homemade wadas with the readymade ones available at Asian grocery stores, they look the same but don’t taste right.

Dahi Wada

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: One Hour

Serves: 4 Persons

Ingredients:

1 kg Yogurt

¼ cup milk

½ cup sugar, adjust the sweet as per your choice

1 large cup of chickpea flour

2 tablespoons corn flour

2 cups cooking oil

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon cumin powder

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

Method:

I have used fat-free milk; you can use full-fat milk for a creamier texture.

• Step 1: In a big bowl, whisk 1 kg yogurt with ¼ cup milk and ½ cup sugar. Once everything is well combined, refrigerate the mixture.

• Step 2: Take another large bowl, add 1 cup chickpea flour, 2 tablespoons corn flour, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda. Make a lump-free batter by adding water little by little. Consistency should be on a thicker side.

• Step 3: Set your deep wok on medium heat and allow 2 cups of cooking oil to heat up, now add a droplet of the chickpea batter with the help of a spoon, if the droplet bounces back up to the surface of the oil, our oil is ready to fry.

The decision to make before frying:

• If the droplet stays at the bottom of the pan, wait for it to come up, indicating the oil is not at its best frying temperature.
• If the droplet immediately comes up and becomes darker brown, it indicates that the oil is too hot, dial down the heat to low and adjust the temperature until the droplet smoothly bounces to the surface with a gentle light brown color.
• Once we have achieved the desired point of temperature, drop the batter gently with the help of a small spoon on a medium heat setting. Fry the wadas until they become crispy and light brown.

• Try to make circular shapes wadas with even small sizes. Flip the sides of wada after every 2 minutes so that they cook perfectly from all the sides.

• Remove them and at this point, you can freeze them for 15 days and hog them whenever you crave Dahi Vadas.
• Step 4: In a water bowl, add the fried wadas and allow them to soak for at least 5 minutes allowing them to absorb the water. They will increase in size, change color and become soft at this stage.
• Step 5: After 5 minutes, softly press soaked wadas in between your palms and try to remove all the excess water. Be careful while pressing, you might end up breaking those cute balls.
• Step 6: Arrange them in a serving dish, and add a generous amount of chilled yogurt mixture, sprinkle some chaat masala powder and enjoy the sweetness of fresh and soft Dahi Wadas.
• You can also add some green cilantro sauce and sweet tamarind sauce. Enjoy