Dahi Vada(perugu vada)

ingredent

Urad dal (Minapappu) - 1¹/₂cup)
Green Chilis - 2 small
Curry Leaves - 10
Black Mustard Seeds(Aavalu)-¹/₂ teaspoon
Turmeric (Haldi powder) - ¹/₂ teaspoon
Ginger - 1 teaspoon
Coriander Leaves - 1 fistful
Vegetable Oil - 1 tablespoon
curd - 2¹/₂ cups
Salt - 1 to taste
Oil for deep frying
Baking powder - ¹/₄ teaspoon

Method

Wash the split (and hulled or skinned) urud dal and soak in
sufficient water for about three hours.

At the end of three hours, drain water from the dal and put
it in the food processor. Add water such that the dal is
just immersed. Add salt to taste too. Grind into a semi
soft paste. Do not make it too soft. While grinding the
dal, add a little water as and when required.

In a bowl, take the batter, add the baking powder and whisk
until the batter become light and airy. The consistency of
the batter is such that it will stand up stiff, if a spoon
is inserted in the batter and pulled out. Also, the batter
turns whiter as you whisk it.

Meanwhile, mix the turmeric to the yogurt and whisk with an
egg beater.

In a small skillet, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When
they pop, add chopped green chilis, chopped coriander and
curry leaves. Fry for a minute on medium and then remove
from heat. First, add the ginger pieces. Then, add the
yogurt and turmeric mixture and mix well. Keep aside.

Deep frying the vadas:
Heat oil in a deep skillet. When oil is hot, take slightly
larger than walnut sized amount of batter and spread it on
a wet plastic sheet in the shape of a disk (of half inch
thickness and 2.5 inches diameter). Make a hole at the
centre with your index finger.
Peel away the plastic sheet and at the same time, let slip
the donut shaped batter into the hot oil. Cook to golden
brown on both sides. In one batch, you may fry about three
to four depending upon the width of the skillet.

When the vadas turn golden brown on both sides, remove from
oil and dip in a container filled with cool water. Wait for
two minutes and when you notice the vada sinking, remove
from water with a slotted spoon, drain for half a minute
and drop it in the yogurt sauce. Scoop over the sauce on
the vadas. When the second batch of vadas are ready to go
into the yogurt sauce, remove the first batch vadas from
the sauce and place them on a wide platter.
Repeat for all the batches and in the end, pour any left
over yogurt sauce on top of the vadas