Divided by language, united by one dish.

Dahi Vada is a household name when it comes to be a food dish. Every place has their unique way of making or serving this dish. The recipe always remains the same but the taste always varies from place to place. Each place has their unique story-telling of this tasty delicacy.

Picture courtesy : oriyarasoi

In Odisha, Dahi Vada is given with a topping of Guguni and aloo dum whereas in Gujarat and Maharastra the curd of Dahi Vada is preferred to be made sweet in some places. The garnishing of sev, chopped chillies and onions remains the same but Hyderabad which even provides odia-style Dahi vada provides the Dahi Vada extra spicy on request. Kolkatta being a land of sweets prefer the Dahi Vada a bit sweet and less spicy compared to Odisha. In some places the vadas are not dipped overnight rather given with only a topping of thick curd on the brown vadas.

Picture courtesy : pinterest

While back in my village- Ichapur, Dahi Vadas of my Grandmother taste a bit sweet and salty though she doesn’t prefers to serve it with aloo dum. That’s how Dahi Vada has been closely associated with our culture. It’s a dish which binds us together in a unique way. The different tastes is symbolical of the various cultures that exists. The intriguing spices and flavours the dish provides is an amalgamation of our variety and vastness in our cuisine. Dahi Vada stands out as an unique dish with various others like pav bhaji, pani-puri or gup-cup, papdi chat and still continues to be a true favoutite of an Indian.

7 places to visit for Dahi Vada in Cuttack and Bhubanshwar!

Though Cuttack is a legacy when it comes to providing us with Dahi Vada Aloo dum and has the best stalls when it comes to ‘chatpata’ food like chaat, gup-chup and dahi vada, Bhubaneswar even has budding sellers when it comes to spicy Dahi Vada Aloo dum. Confused, dont be. 

Here’s list of the places which provide us the yummy street food:-

• Raghu Dahi Vada Aloodum, Cuttack – The pioneer of this delicacy. A firm believer that food tastes better when provided with bare hands. 

  

  Picture courtesy : thebrokenscooter

• Eshwar Dahi Vada Aloodum, Cuttack – Our second favourite of Cuttack curated by two brothers. 

  

  picture courtesy : oriyarasoi

•  Rama Dahi Vada, Cuttack – Favourite of the college students. If you’re late you might miss to taste it.
• Bhoggie, Cuttack- The afternoon sellers get huge customers usually during daytime. 

  

  Picture courtesy : thebrokenscooter

• Trinatha Dahi Vada, Cuttack – They’re pretty famous and have loyal fans too. 

  

  Picture courtesy : thebrokenscooter

•  Near Petrol Pump office, Patia, Bhubaneshwar – If you have a plateful of this then you don’t need to have your lunch.
•  IRC VIllage Near Reliance Fresh – The seller says he’s from Cuttack, Bidanasi.  

  

  Picture courtesy : oriyarasoi

Need we say more?

Next time you plan to visit Odisha, don’t forget to visit these places if Dahi Vada strikes your mind!

For another update -
http://odiafoodia.blogspot.in/2018/01/divided-by-language-united-by-one-dish.html

The age old delicacy but with a twist-guguni.

As said earlier dahi vada needs no introduction to Odias particularly. People love to have this dish anytime of a day with great enthusiasm due to its yummy taste. It’s served differently in different places. The odias are foodies, big time! We love everything extra and always follow “Live life King size”, then why leave food behind, right? So even our dish demand so. Hence our age old delicacy does not only include the same dahi vada and aloo dum it has even guguni.

Picture courtesy : cravebits

Guguni is a curry made of dried yellow peas boiled and prepared for a dip on top of dahi vada aloo dum. The quintessential taste of aloo dum and guguni makes the dish even more enticing.They are like two spicy curries battling to win your taste buds. 

Picture courtesy : fooddrifter

While guguni has a less spicy taste than aloo dum whose curry is sometimes bright red, guguni looks more like a topping on the off- white vadas just like the nuts or choco chips on ice-cream. Now guguni is an odia speciality mostly in Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar. What’s more we even get something like a sweet dish if we ask the dahi vada wala for the curd of the dahi vada. The curd is little watery with dried up chillies and phutana (futn) with pepper sprinkled on top. The food is served in a leaf made into the shape of a small bowl and a stick made of wood but nowadays with a spoon too. Hence when you visit Odisha don’t forget to ask your dahi vada wala about guguni and salty curd if he forgets or doesn’t give you.

For places to visit -
http://odiafoodia.blogspot.in/2018/01/7-places-to-visit-for-dahi-vada-in.html

Spicy and healthy!

Picture courtesy : thegoldenspices It may look like a dish which has got a lot of carbs since it’s got a lot of spices, potatoes and flavours but actually it isn’t. The total calories of Dahi Vada of 2 serving is 120 calories whereas one serving of aloo dum has 40 calories. So the entire calorie count doesn’t exceed more than 200 calories. Nutrition summary Calories      160 Total Fat  6.7 g Cholesterol 0.0 mg Sodium 374.2 mg Potassium 755.8 mg Total Carbohydrate 34.4 g Dietary Fiber 4.7 g Sugars 4.1 g Carbs 11g Protein 5g There are 140 calories in a 2 pieces serving of Dahi Vada Aloo dum. Calorie breakdown: 53% fat, 32% carbs, 15% protein. For more info, http://odiafoodia.blogspot.in/2018/01/the-age-old-delicacy-but-with-twist.html

Dahi Vada aloo dum, make the street food at home.

Picture courtesy : spicesnflavours

Dahi Vada aloo dum is obviously an all time favourite street and household food for Odiya people as it completes our hunger with lot of interesting flavours and spices. This can be a glamorous snack, a spicy breakfast and even a lunch for students. The name itself is enough to conjure up many childhood memories, particularly me.

The then prepared dahi vada is served with spicy aloo dum, guguni (dried yellow peas curry) with lot of Sev, bhujia, sliced onion with various chutneys like mint chutney or tomato sauce. Last but not the least, people love to have the curd of the vada with crushed green chilli and sprinkled pepper to quench the thirst as a desert too.

For Vada:

1. Urad Daal or Black Grams- 1 Cup
2. Green Chillies – 2 pieces
3.  Ginger – 2 cm long
4. Garlic- 3 big cloves
5. Vegetable Oil – For Deep Frying
6. Salt

For Aloo Dum:

1. Potato – 3-4 medium sized
2.  Onion – 1 medium sized
3. Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 tbsp
4.   Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
5. Cumin Powder – 2 tsp
6. Coriander Powder – 2 tsp
7.  Red Chili Powder – 2 tsp
8. Garam Masala – 1 tsp
9.  Vegetable Oil- 2-3 tbsp
10. Salt – according to the taste

Curd Seasoning:

1.  Curd Beaten – 2 cups
2. Black Pepper Powder – 1 tsp
3.  Salt

For Garnishing:

1. Sev
2.  Onions- chopped Finely
3. Coriander Leaves – Finely Chopped
4.  Cucumber – Finely chopped

 Method:

For the Vadas:

1.   Wash and soak the urad dal for 3-4 hours.
2.   Strain the water; grind the urad dal into a smooth paste by adding very less water. 
3. 
4. Add chopped onion, chopped green chili, grated ginger, coriander leaves, curry leaves, salt and mix well. 
   
5.   Heat oil in a wok. 
6.    Apply water in your palms, take a small amount of batter and flatten it. Make a small hole in the centre and drop it in the hot oil. Fry the vadas till they turn golden brown from both sides. Drain the oil, and drop the vadas in hot water. Make vadas with rest of the batter.  
   
7. ·       In the meantime churn the curd with ½ cup of curd, salt & sugar. 
   
8. ·       After 15 minutes, take the vadas out from water, press gently to squeeze out water. 
   
9. ·       Drop the vadas in prepared curd. 
   

For the Aloo dum:

1.  In a pan heat 2 tbsp oil. Add dry red chilies, tej patta. Add asafoetida. Add chopped Onion and fry till brown in colour.
2. Add Ginger garlic paste. Fry till the raw smell is gone. Add Chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are soft and mushy. Add turmeric powder, cumin, coriander powder, red chilli powder. Fry until the oil is separated.
3.   Add potatoes. Fry for 6-7 minutes, till the potatoes are nicely coated with the spices and browned. Add garam masala. Mix well. Add water. Bring the curry to a boil, roughly for 10 minutes.
4.  Serve dahi bara, topped with warm aloo dum and garnished with chopped onion, sev, coriander leaves. And off-course dusted with lots of roasted cumin, red chilli powder and chat masala. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   

Tadaaa!!!!! The dish is now complete to be served. 

For health facts click onto -
http://odiafoodia.blogspot.in/2018/01/spicy-and-healthy.html

Dahi Vada Aloo dum – It’s not just food, it’s a tradition.

If you go to Mumbai, you’ll be enthralled enough to try pav bhaji. If you go to Chennai, it has to be dosa or idli with scintillating chutneys to fill your stomach. If you go to Punjab, then how can you forget aloo paratha and lassi or makki di roti (corn chappatis) and sarson da saag (mustard leaf-based food). So when you come to Odisha, you have to be introduced to Dahi Vada aloo dum. Be it breakfast, lunch or dinner or even sweet dish, Dahi Vada is ever ready to be served. I’m an odia and I know the importance of Dahi Vada in my life.

Picture courtesy : yummytummyarthi

Picture courtesy : NYT cooking

Picture courtesy : cookingwithsapana

Picture courtesy : Pinterest

During my childhood I used to see my mother battering the urad lentils, making vadas of circular shape with a hole in the centre and soaking them in curd overnight for the guests who were to come in the morning. At night I wondered how will the Dahi vadas taste with my night full of dreams about how I am going to grab over all the Dahi vadas from the guests. During the morning our house would be filled with the aroma of sweet and spicy Dahi vadas with red chillies and pepper topped with onions ready to be served with hot and yummy aloo dum served with bhujia sev. Hence every household knows the reminiscence of this dish.Every odia kid is accustomed to this age old food that is cheap and tasty, what even do you need more? Life would have been incomplete without Dahi Vada aloo dum. The smell of the dish just fills our nostrils with engaging aroma and our ears secretly listening to our inner voices echoing to have a plateful of Dahi Vada aloo dum.

Picture courtesy : craftcanvas

Now Dahi Vada is available at every nook of the street, becoming a complete favourite street food for Odias. Somewhere between our mothers preparing vadas overnight to being sold in huge pots and served in small tholas (plates made of paper), Dahi Vada has been and still continues to stay an age old tradition.




For complete recipe,
http://odiafoodia.blogspot.in/2018/01/dahi-vada-aloo-dum-make-street-food-at.html

Dahi Vada Aloo Dum – the favourite delicacy, from the common man to the riches.

You go to any place, they’ll definitely be serving a dish for all groups – that’s nothing but ‘Dahi vada aloo dum’ for you, popularly known as ‘Dahi Vada’ in Odisha. It’s a dish that knows no caste, religion, race or humanity. It treats everyone equal with enough love and taste. From our mother’s home-made kitchen vadas dipped in curds overnight till the vendors selling it with extra spicy flavours, Dahi vada stays our favourite till the very end.

Picture courtesy : thebrokenscooter

We all remember when we tell the Dahi vada wala bhaiya,”Bhaina, tike besi raga karibe.” (Brother, make it more spicy). We like the Dahi vada to be spicy and tasty enough to make our tongues keep on rolling in its last essence sprinkled in roasted cumin and chilli powder. What pleases me is the interesting range of coloured sauces added to make the dish more enticing and appetising and the best – you always get to choose the sauce, it’s like going to subway and making your own slice of bread. 

Picture courtesy : The golden spices

Everyone has encountered Dahi vada aloo dum in their childhood days.I still remember my Grandma making only Dahi vada in our village with an interesting twist of sweet and salty aftertaste.The curd dipped in flavoured spices with red chillies is even more soothing to look at.So just imagine the taste!😉

My school days were incomplete without Dahi vada aloo dum. Our lunch breaks were filled with our inner voices craving for the mouth-watering Dahi vada aloo dum which we could smell during the period before lunch. Much relatable, isn’t it? We used to lift over our hands from the boundaries of our school walls and receive it from the cycle walla bhaiya who would be carrying big pots or vessels of dahi vada and few smaller pots of aloo dum hanging on both sides of the bicycyle, gladly waiting for us. Back then, dahi vada had been a staple food for us. Even after finishing the entire plate we always ask for extra special watery curd of the Dahi Vada and trust me, we still do. Dahi vada has lots of memories with it, from childhood till college this dish used to make our eyes gleam with joy when a friend says,” Chale Dahi vada khaiba” (Let’s go and have Dahi vada).

Picture courtesy : mycitylinks

Now it has become a very popular street food in Odisha, mostly in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. One of the most popular road side delicacy along with pani-puri (gup-chup), starting with just Rs 10/- the salty taste of the curd with vadas dipped in them, onions sprinkled on top and garnished with coriander leaves, bhujia sev with pepper and chilli powder, the dish stands out to be our own State dish. The dish continues to be everyone’s cult favourite when it comes to fill up our stomach. Affordable, indulging and tasty, do you even need more insights? And trust me, when its home-made it’s even more tasty!

For another interesting article,
http://odiafoodia.blogspot.in/2018/01/dahi-vada-aloo-dum-its-not-just-food.html