Dahi Vade/Bhalle

Say "Dahi Vade" and my mouth starts watering! Dahi Vade (also known as Dahi Bhalle) is a popular Punjabi side dish. The best description I can give of it is "lentil dumplings soaked in yogurt with sweet and sour chutneys". Sounds yummy? ;) Here is how we prepare it.

Ingredients

• Urad Dal (white): 1 cup
• Moong Dal (yellow): 1/2 cup
• Fresh Yogurt: 1 Pound (1/2Kg)
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Salt: to taste
• Red Chilly Powder: to taste
• Cumin powder: to taste
• Tamarind Chutney
• Coriander/Mint Chutney

Preparation

Mix Urad and Moong Dal and soak them overnight. Wash the dals thoroughly and then grind them to a fine paste. Be careful while adding water to the dals when you grind the dals. The batter should be thick enough to make dumplings.

Heat oil in a pan on medium flame. When the oil is hot, drop ping pong ball sized dumplings into it. Fry them until they turn golden brown, drain them, and keep them aside. Do not fry them on high flame otherwise the dumplings would not cook properly and stay raw inside. Take ample amount of water in a large bowl and soak the dumplings for around 10 minutes.

Beat the yogurt very fine and make sure that it has no lumps. Take the dumplings out of the water, squeeze each dumpling lightly between your palms to drain the water, and drop them in the yogurt. Don't squeeze them so hard that they break. Let them stay in the yogurt for a while so that they soak it. If you aren't planning to have them immediately, refrigerate them and let them become chilled.

Serving

Take the dumplings out of the yogurt carefully and put them in the serving dish. Pour yogurt over them evenly. Sprinkle salt, red chilly powder, and cumin powder on them, all to your taste. Pour the chutneys in the end. Some people like to decorate the Vadas with the spices and chutneys by making designs out of them. It's quite a colorful sight! :) You can also garnish the vadas with chopped coriander leaves and Sev.

Dahi Vadas taste the best when serve chilled.

Fundooo Fried Rice

I'd earlier posted a recipe of Sweet Cardamom Rice that used leftover rice. Here is the salty version of the leftover rice.

Pre-Preparation

The best way is to use the leftover plain white rice from the earlier meal that you don't want to throw. :) Crush the rice with hands to remove any lumps. If you want to use fresh rice, cook rice separately in an open container or in the microwave. For one bowl of rice, add two bowls of water and a little oil. Put in the microwave for 17-18 mins. I use Pure Basmati Rice that is the best for Fried Rice/Biryani.

Ingredients

• Basmati Rice - 1 Bowl
• Pure Ghee - 2 TSP
• Chopped Onion - 1 Small
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 TSP (Jeera)
• Brown Cardamom - 2 (Crushed)
• Cumin Powder - 1/4 TSP (Jeera)
• Cardamom Powder (Elaichi) - Crushed cardamom is also OK to have - 1/2 TSP
• Raisins - (Kishmish / Saungi) - 10-15
• Turmeric(Haldi) Powder - 1/2 TSP
• Dhaniya Leaves - Small Bunch, Chopped
• Chilli Powder 1/4 TSP
• Salt - To taste

Procedure

Chop onions into thin long slices of appx 1" size. Chop the Green Chillies into small finely.

Heat Ghee in a non stick frying pan. Add Cumin seeds and let them crackle for a couple seconds. Add onions and chillies and sauté them until onions turn light yellow. Add Brown Cardamom (Large Cardamom/ Elaichi ) and golden raisins and sauté them for a few seconds.

Add the cooked rice and mix well to make a homogeneous mixture.

Add Turmeric Powder, Chilly Powder, Cumin Powder, and Salt. Mix well. Make sure not to leave any lumps.

Let the mixture cook for a while. Before serving, garnish the rice with chopped Coriander leaves.

Serve Hot!