Sunita Harisinghani's Dahi Kadhi With Dal Vada is a welcome change from the regular Punjabi dish made with chickpea flour pakoda.
Instead of besan pakoda, she opts to add the traditional South Indian vadas made from chana dal (Bengal gram) and crunchy chopped onions, to add extra flavour.
When it is pouring outside, you can enjoy a bowl of this kadhi with hot steamed rice and a few papads on the side.
Sunita vouches for its delicious taste!
This inspired dish, that is a fusion on South Indian and north cuisine, reflects her mixed Mangalorean-Sindhi background.
Photograph: Hitesh Harisinghani
Dahi Kadi With Dal Vada
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 200 gm dahi or yoghurt
- 8-10 leftover vadas, or use Sunita's recipe to make crispy dal vada from scratch
- 2 tbsp besan or chickpea flour
- 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
- 3-4 garlic pods
- ½-inch piece ginger
- 2 Kashmiri chillies
- ½ tsp rai or mustard seeds
- ½ tsp jeera or cumin seeds
- ½ tsp methi or fenugreek seeds
- ½ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
- Pinch sugar
- Pinch hing or asafoetida
- 8-10 curry leaves
- 1½ tbsp oil
- Chopped green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves, to garnish
- Salt to taste, about 1 tsp
- 2 cups water
Method
- Grind the green chillies, ginger, garlic into a paste without water in a mixer/blender..
Keep aside.
- Beat the dahi into a smooth paste.
Add the besan and mix.
Add the water in slowly, stirring, to get a slightly thick kadhi consistency and increase the qunaity if required.
Add the ground green chilly-ginger-garlic paste and mix again.
Keep aside.
- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over high heat.
Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, asafoetida and allow it to crackle for a minute and then add the curry leaves and the Kashmiri chillies.
Add the dahi paste.
Add the haldi, salt, sugar and mix.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
Add the chopped coriander leaves.
Add the leftover vadas
If you are making the vadas from scratch, instead of making the vadas flat, make them round instead.
Cook the kadhi for 3-4 minutes more after adding the vadas.
Take off heat and serve hot along with steamed rice and papads.
Editor's Note: For a vegan version of this recipe use vegan yoghurt.
For a Jain version, skip the ginger and garlic and use 1 tsp saunth or ginger powder instead.
Sunita Harisinghani lives in Navi Mumbai.
