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Dahi Bhallay, Lentil dumplings in yogurt
Sconce&Scone

Dahi Bhalla

This is a classic summer time snack. Delicious bhallas are nestled in a sweet yogurt and topped with a sweet and tangy Imlee ki Chuntey (Tamarind Chutney).
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings: 5
Course: Appetizer, Snack
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Urad Daal Mash ki Daal
  • 3 green chillies chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 cup besan chickpea flour
  • oil for frying
For the yogurt
  • 2 cups yogurt chilled
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp icing sugar
To Serve
  • 1/4 cup imlee chutney tamarind chutney
  • 1 tsp chaat masala
  • 2 tbsp onions thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp cabbage shredded
  • 1/2 cup papar fried wonton strips

Equipment

  • blender
  • frying pan

Method
 

  1. Soak your lentils over night. Drain and add to your blender/chopper along with the green chillies, salt, black pepper and cumin seeds. Blend into a fine paste. You may need to add 1-2 tsp of water. The paste should be thick, not liquidy.
  2. Remove the paste into a small bowl and mix in the besan and baking soda. Let the mixture sit for 15 minutes before deep frying.
  3. To fry, heat oil 2 inches deep in your frying pan. Once hot, lower the flame to medium low and fry tablespoon fulls of the lentil mixture. Flip once the bottoms are a golden brown. Remove onto kitchen towel to drain the excess oil. Cool completely.
  4. At this point you can freeze the bhallas. To use once frozen, put in a bowl and pour over boiling water. Let them sit until they defrost and absorb water, about 10-15 minutes. Then gently squeeze out the excess water with your hands and place in your serving bowl.
  5. If you want to use them right away, place the bhallas in a bowl and cover in warm water. Let them sit for 10 minutes, then gentlyl squeeze out the excess water using your hands and plavce them in your serving dish.
For the yogurt
  1. Whisk the yogurt, water and icing sugar until combined. The yogurt should be the consistency of kefir.
To serve
  1. Pour half the yogurt mix in your serving dish. Carefully place the bhallas around your dish. Pour over the remaining yogurt. Drizzle over the imlee chutney, sprinkle over the onions and cabbage, then finish off with a sprinkling of the chaat masala. Serve chilled.

Notes

Soak your lentil overnight for the best results. You can get 12-15 bhallas from this recipe.
Keep in mind that they expand while frying because of the baking soda, and they also expand once immersed in water. Double the batch and freeze some for later. 
Don't crowd your frying pan when frying these. Do it small batches and you'll be able to flip them easily, because they do expand while frying. 
I always thin out the yogurt because the bhallas absorb the yogurt over time. 
When you're squeezing out the water with your hands be careful not to break the bhallas. 
You can make this a day before, it'll stay great in the fridge. Just add your onions, cabbage and chaat masala right before serving. The onions and cabbage is completely optional and can be skipped. 
Papar is basically a simple flour and water dough that is deep fried. If you can't find a premed one you can easy fry wonton wrappers. Another great alternative is fried flour tortillas. Just cut into squares and deep fry till light golden brown.