Appe with a twist: Dahi Vada (Appe)

Update: In this recipe I first make the Medu Vada as an Appe (Konkani cooking word) in a Aebleskiver Pan.  This ‘Appe’ is also referred to as “Ponganalu/ Paniyaram/ Uniyappam/ Gundupongalu or Gundpaanglu”. After that I dip them in the seasoned yogurt/curd. I have found very favorable results by using this pan and this forms a healthier alternative to the deep fired variety. There is also no difference in taste. To see how the pan/skillet looks like check here. 

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It is funny how I came up with this idea of “Dahi Appe” and I have to thank my toddler for that. Strange, but sometimes their stubbornness, fussiness challenges you to think outside the box and come up with creative ways of feeding them healthy and nutritious food. Their temper tantrums, constant whining, screaming, terrible two’s syndrome …….. now that is a different story altogether and makes you want to sit inside a box forever.

Anyways, so S as any other toddler has this nasty habit of turning his head around in a 180 turn, the moment I take food to him.  So I usually have to tax my brain to try something new to allure his taste buds. I thought about the usual vadas, bhajjis etc but did not want to give him deep fried food as it is very easy to fall into that temptation and then hard to get them out of it. So somewhere along and had this idea of making “Urad daal vada (medu vada)” as appe.

I was so excited with this idea, that I could not wait to try it. In fact, when I made them I was surprised as they tasted pretty good by themselves. It is good idea for a healthy wholesome snack even for the adults. Of course, they do not taste anywhere near the deep fried ones but nevertheless a filling snack and a healthy substitute.

But then while munching on those goodies I had another wicked idea and that was to put it in the yogurt mix to make “Dahi vada”.  After all, anything dipped in yogurt goodness has to taste good, right? . This tastes exactly like Dahi Vada/ Dahi Bada/ Thayir Vada.

Ingredients for the urad vada ( appe )

• 1 cup urad daal
• Curry leaves
• Ginger
• 2-3 green chillies
• Pepper corns
• Salt

Ingredients for the yogurt sauce

• 1 cup yogurt (if thick thin it out with little milk)
• 2-3 red chillies
• 3-4 curry leaves
• Mustard
• Salt, oil

• Soak the urad daal in enough water for about 4-5 hours.
• Grind the soaked urad daal with little water in the grinder to a smooth paste. The batter should not be flowing or too thick either.
•  Add salt, diced green chillies, ginger, curry leaves. Mix thoroughly and keep aside.
• Yogurt sauce:  The yogurt should not be very thick, thin it out a bit with milk.
•  Prepare a seasoning of oil, mustard, curry leaves, red chillies and pour it into the yogurt.

 Method:

• Heat the Appe/ Appam skillet and add ½ tsp oil into each groove.
• Make sure that the oil has become hot (not smoking hot). Drop a bit of batter to test and if you hear the sizzling sound, the oil is of the right temperature.
• Add the prepared urad daal batter into each of the grove, so that ¾ of the grove is covered and cover it with a lid.
• Reduce the heat a little bit at this time. After a minute or so, open the lid and with a kitchen knife, run it around the edge of the appe, to see if it is browning.
• Make sure the appe does not turn dark brown or black in color. The one in the middle is the one that gets dark fast.
• If some of the appe can be easily displaced from the grove turn it on the other side, add oil and cook until done. Let the remaining appe cook correctly.
• When turned on the other side, reduce the heat even further and there is no need to cover with lid. This side gets done pretty fast.
• After done, place it in the already prepared yogurt mixture.

This can be served after an hour or so after the yogurt mixture is absorbed into the appe / vadas.













Update: In this recipe I first make the Medu Vada as an Appe (Konkani cooking word) in a Aebleskiver Pan.  This ‘Appe’ is also referred to as “Ponganalu/Paniyaram/Uniyappam”. After that I dip them in the seasoned yogurt/curd. I have found very favorable results by using this pan and this forms a healthier alternative to the deep fired variety.