Thayir Vadai, South Indian Dahi Vada, Curd Vada

          Thayir Vadai/Lentil Fritters In Curd. every state in India might have it's own version of this, with a few differences in the spices and ingredients added to the curd/yogurt. This is such a refreshing and delicious snack or accompaniment to a meal, especially during the hot summer days. I love all the different versions of this dish, but the most favorite one will always be this South Indian version. The coconut and spice paste mixed with the curd gives it a wonderful taste and when made perfectly, the soaked vadas/fritters will be so soft and delicious..

Need To Have

• Whole Husked Urad Dal/ Black Gram - 1 cup
• Green Chillies - 4 + 2
• Rice Flour - 1 tablespoon
• Grated Coconut - 2 tablespoons
• Cumin Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Ginger - 1/2" piece
• Thick Curd/Yogurt - 2 cups
• Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
• Urad Dal/Husked Black Gram - 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 10
• Salt to taste
• Chopped Coriander Leaves And Grated Carrot For Garnishing

Method

        Wash and soak the 1 cup urad dal for about 2 hours. Then grind it with 4 green chillies, adding very little or no water into a thick batter. Add the salt and the rice flour and mix it well.

          Wet your hands, take a small ball, flatten it as shown, dip a finger in water and make the center whole, then slide it into the hot oil.

          Fry till it turns golden, remove, drain the excess oil and keep.

          Grind together the coconut, 2 green chillies, ginger and cumin seeds and keep.

          Beat the curd, add the ground paste and salt and mix, arrange the vadas/fritters and pour half of the curd over it.

          Heat some oil, add the mustard seeds and the 1 teaspoon of urad dal, when it starts sputtering, add the asfoetida followed by the curry leaves, remove and add this to the remaining curd, mix and pour over the vadas. Let it soak for a while, till the vadas turn soft. Garnish with the carrots and coriander leaves and serve.

Note
The rice flour is added to make the batter thick, so that it doen't absorb much oil, while deep frying.
If the vadas don't come out good, if they turn out hard ( the problem may be the urad dal is not good quality or the batter is too thick ). But you still can make Thayir Vadas, just soak the vadas in hot water, squeeze out the water and then add them to the curd.
Make sure that the curd is of the right taste, not too sour or bland.
Leftovers should be refrigerated, if left outside, the curd turns more sour.
The correct consistency of the soaked vada is, you should be able to slice out easily with a spoon.