Dahi vada
Preparation Time
20 minutes
Cooking Time
25 minutes
Difficulty Level
moderate
Meal Type
Evening Snack
Serves 4
Key Ingredients
- White urad split (urad dal)
About This Recipe
Dahi vada is the snack of soft, fried urad vadas sitting in cool spiced curd: each vada soaks up the curd until it is creamy all the way through. In North India the same dish is called dahi bhalla, and in Tamil Nadu it is thayir vadai. The urad dal used for dahi vada is white urad split, the dehusked dal, ground into a thick, airy batter that fries into light vadas.
The batter needs no soda: the fluffiness comes from grinding the soaked dal with very little water and beating the paste until it is full of air. This recipe starts with 200 g (1 cup) of white urad split, soaked overnight for about 12 hours, ground thick and deep fried into 8 vadas. The vadas are then soaked in warm water and squeezed gently, so they turn soft and ready to drink up the curd. The dal's nutrition is on the urad dal hub.
Most of the dish can be made ahead: the fried vadas keep up to two days in the fridge; soak them in warm water for 15 minutes, then whisk and spice the curd just before serving. Assemble no more than half an hour ahead, or the vadas over-soak. The vada itself is our urad dal vada recipe, and the soaking steps are in our guide on how to soak urad dal.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Vada batter
- White urad split (urad dal) — 1 cup
- Water for grinding — 3/4 cup
- Green chilli — 1 nos
- Ginger — 1 inch
- Salt — 1 tsp
For frying
- Groundnut oil for deep frying (2 tbsp of it is absorbed) — 500 ml
Curd and toppings
- Curd (dahi) — 2 cups
- Cumin seeds, dry-roasted and crushed — 1 tsp
- Red chilli powder — 1/2 tsp
- Black salt — 1/2 tsp
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Serving Suggestions
Serve the dahi vadas cool, topped with roasted cumin powder, red chilli powder and black salt, and finish with tamarind chutney, green chutney and chopped coriander. Pomegranate seeds or a little sev add crunch. Two vadas with their curd make a light evening snack or a starter at a festive lunch.
Tips for Cooking Dahi vada
Soak the fried vadas in warm water for 15 minutes and press each one flat between your palms; this is what makes them soak up the curd. Whisk the curd with a splash of water until it pours like custard, and keep it cool until serving. Fry the vadas golden and let them drain well on paper before the water bath, or they will be greasy under the curd.
Chef’s Note
Pour the curd over the vadas only shortly before serving; they keep absorbing, and left too long they melt into the bowl. A pinch of salt whisked into the curd seasons the whole dish. Two vadas with their curd come to about 232 kcal with 11.7 g of protein and 6.3 g of fibre from the dal and the spices; the curd and toppings sit on top of that.
Per serving (approx.): 232 kcal, protein 12 g, carbs 26 g, fat 8.6 g, fibre 6.3 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jun 24, 2026
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