Name: Oil-free Dahi Vada recipe by Kartikeya Mishra at BetterButter
Prep time: 180 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 185 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 small cup urad dal(125 grams); 4 cups curd; 1 tablespoon oil(to grease); 1 teaspoon salt; Pinch of Asafoetida; A small handful of cashew nuts; 1 teaspoon eno fruit salt; 1 teaspoon rock salt; 1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds powder; 1 teaspoon chaat masala; 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder; 1/2 small cup moong dal(60 grams); 1 teaspoon sugar

Wash both the dals and soak them in enough water for 2-3 hours. Drain excess water and grind these together to a coarse paste.

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder to the paste. Mix well. You should have a thick paste.

Grease microwave idli stands with little oil. You can even add 1-2 tablespoon of oil to the dal paste if you like. Divide the mixture into 2 parts and to one part add eno fruit salt.

Pour enough mixture in the idli cavities and press one cashew nut inside it. Microwave on high power for 2 minutes 30 seconds. If not done microwave more for 30 seconds or accordingly. Make vadas out of remaining batter too.

Take 3 cups of lukewarm water in a vessel enough to soak all the vadas in it. Add pinch of asafoetida and 1/4 teaspoon salt in it. Soak the vadas in this water for 5 minutes. Take them out and squeeze them a little to drain excess water.

Add sugar, rock salt, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds powder, 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder and whisk the curd well. Add a little bit of water if your curd is a bit thicker than needed.

Put vadas on a plate and pour curd over those. Sprinkles red chilli powder, rock salt and cumin seed powder over them. You can even drizzle some sweet chutney over these.