Dahi Vada

This is a tasty and healthy accompaniment to meals and quite easy to make :)

You need:
urad dal - 1 cup
salt - to taste
Thick curd - 4 cups
Buttermilk - optional - 2 cups
Oil for frying

To garnish
Sweet and sour tamarind chutney
Green coriander chutney
Fresh coriander leaves
red chilly pwder
roasted cumin powder
salt

How to:
Soak urad dal in water 2 hours in advance. Drain the water and grind the dal to a thick paste adding minimal water. Beat this paste with your hands till fluffy.

Heat oil in a pan. Add salt to the dal paste. Fry the dal paste as small round balls (vada) in the hot oil till golden brown. Remove from flame and dip in a bowl of buttermilk. If you don't have buttermilk, dip the vada in warm water.

Once the vada is thouroughly soaked, press it to remove excess water/ buttermilk.

To serve, keep 2 vadas in a bowl, top it generously with thick curd. Garnish with all the garnish ingredients listed above.