Delhi Style Dahi Bhalla Papdi Chaat
Bhalla Papdi Chaat is a delicious Delhi street food made with crispy papdi, soft bhallas, yogurt, tangy chutneys, and flavorful toppings.
Ingredients
For Making Dahi Bhalla
- ⅔ cup split white urad dal
- ⅓ cup split yellow mung dal
- 1-2 green chilies adjust to taste
- ½ inch ginger
- 10-12 black peppercorns
- ¼ teaspoon hing asafetida
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Oil for deep frying
For Making Spiced Yogurt
- 2 cup plain yogurt not too sour
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon chaat masala powder
- ½ teaspoon black salt kala namak
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Salt taste and adjust
To Assemble Chaat
- 20-25 Papri
- ⅓ cup Sweet Tamarind Chutney or as needed
- ⅓ cup Green Chutney or as needed
- 1 cup boiled potatoes cubed
- ¾ cup boiled white peas as needed
- Roasted Cumin powder as needed
- Red Chilli Powder as needed
- Chaat Masala Powder as needed
- Boondi as needed
- Grated Radish as needed
Instructions
MAKE THE DAL BHALLA
- Scan the lentils for small stones etc. Add to a large bowl and wash them under running water 3-4 times or until the water runs clear.Soak the washed dal in excess water for at least 4 to 6 hours.
- Drain the water and add the dal to a blender jar. Add the cumin seeds, ginger, hing, chillies and black peppercorns.
- Grind the dal using as less fresh water as possible until smooth. If you use a high speed blender like Vitamix or blendtec, you will notice that the ground dal appears fluffy and pale white in color.
- Take the dal out in a bowl. Add the salt. Using a hand mixer or your hands, beat the dal to make it airy. This step is important and makes sure that your bhalla are spongy in the center and not dense.
- To check that the batter is airy enough, drop a small portion in a small bowl of water, the vada batter should immediately float to the top.
- Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or a kadai over medium heat. To check if the oil is ready, drop a tiny bit of batter into the oil. If it sinks and stays at the bottom, the oil is too cold; if it sizzles and rises too quickly, the oil is too hot. Maintain a low to medium heat for frying.
- Carefully add small portions (about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons) of the lentil batter into the medium-hot oil, making sure not to overcrowd the pan. I use a cookie scoop and it works like a charm!If the batter is well-aerated, the vadas will puff up as they fry, forming characteristic mushroom tops with tiny holes.
- Fry the bhallas over medium heat until golden brown and lightly crisp. Avoid frying too dark or too light. Drain on a paper towel. You can store these fried vada in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks refrigerated.
SOAK THE VADA
- Add the warm fried vadas to a large bowl. Sprinkle a little salt and a pinch of hing, then pour boiling water over them.Tip: Use a small dish (smaller than the bowl’s diameter) to press down the vadas so that they remain fully submerged.
- Let them soak for 10 minutes. Once soaked, gently pick each vada out of the water and squeeze lightly to remove excess moisture. You’ll notice they become incredibly soft. Cool down the soaked vada and next, assemble the chaat.
Make The Spiced Dahi
- In a large bowl, add the yogurt along with all the spices mentioned.
- Use a whisk to combine everything until smooth. Add ¼ to ⅓ cup water (or as needed) to adjust the consistency of yogurt.
- Once mixed, taste and adjust the quantity of spices, salt and sugar as needed.
ASSEMBLE THE CHAAT
- Make sure that you chutneys and all the chaat toppings are ready before you start putting together a place.
- You can assemble your chaat plate any way you like. This is how I do it. Dip 4-6 papri in yogurt or chutneys and layer them on a plate.
- Top with potatoes, boiled white peas and sprinkle chaat masala, salt and roasted cumin powder.
- Break 1-2 soaked vada into small pieces and layer on the plate.
- Drizzle spiced yogurt, green chutney, tamarind chutney and repeat a sprinkle of chaat spices.
- Add some boondi and shredded radish(must in Delhi chaat) on top and serve immediately!!
Notes
- Soak bhallas in hot salted water to soften them, but don’t oversoak, or they’ll fall apart.
- Chaat tastes best cold, so keep yogurt, chutneys, and toppings chilled before assembling the chaat plate.
- Personalize your chaat plate as per your taste. Adjust the spice, tanginess, and sweetness by tweaking the topping proportions.
- Assemble just before serving to keep the textures crisp and fresh.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!