"Dahi Vada" or "Dahi Bhalla" or "Thayir Vada", call it with whatever name you like, if you like curds, this is one street food/starter/evening snack that you will love to eat!!
Its nothing but Split black lentil fried dumplings, served with seasoned yoghurt.
In North India this is called as Dahi vada, in Western India as Dahi Bhalla and in South India as Thayir Vada...!
In the North Indian version this is served without the sweet chutney, but in the western version the vadas are topped with the sweet chutney which is the Dates n Tamarind Chutney/Khajur Imli Chutney.
In both these North and West Indian versions, the curds is just whisked well with a little bit of salt.
In Northern and Western India this is served as a starter/snack.
But in the South Indian version, the curds is diluted a bit and seasoned with some south Indian aromatics/spices.
In South India this is a part of breakfast.
Whichever the version maybe, we love all Dahi vada.
My Mom used to make this very often during our childhood, her version would be Thayir Vada the South Indian one, but I would always add the green mint and coriander chutney and sweet dates n tamarind chutney and convert it to a North+Western Indian version and eat it.
This is one dish which can be served as a starter in a north Indian meal/buffet, eaten for breakfast or as an evening snack.
