Peanut Dahivada Chaat

This yummy chaat comes from the same Gujarati cook show that I mentioned in my yesterday's post. This recipe caught my attention because of the unusual peanut based fritters and our love for chaats. This peanut dahi vada chaat definitely makes an interesting and lip smacking snack on a lazy evening.

Servings: 4
Ingredients to make vadas:
3/4 cup roasted and skinned peanuts
3/4 cup chana dal / split chickpeas
3 tbsp. besan / chickpea flour
3 - 4 green chillies or as per taste
1 inch ginger piece
Salt to taste
2 tbsp. minced cilantro 
1/2 tsp fruit salt
Oil to fry 
Ingredients to assemble the chaat: 
2 cups yogurt (I used homemade, fatfree yogurt.)
Salt & Sugar to taste
Green chutney
Sweet chutney 
Aloo sev
Chaat masala
Red chili powder
Julienned ginger

Preparing Vada Batter:
* Soak peanuts for about an hour and drain. Grind them fine, adding little water if needed.
* Soak chana dal separately for a couple of hours. Grind coarsely along with chillies and ginger.
* Combine the ground peanuts and chana dal mixture, besan, salt, and 1/2 tsp fruit salt in a bowl and mix well. Rest the mixture for about a minute or so.
 
Frying the Vadas:
* While grinding the above, heat oil in a small sized wok for deep frying the vadas / fritters.
* Make small lime sized balls out of the batter and pat them gently to discs. Slide them carefully into the hot oil. Fit as many as the frying pan can hold without overcrowding.  
* Fry them on low flame until golden through out and cooked through, flipping them intermittently. Drain them on paper towels and let them cool for about 1 minute. They don't absorb much oil and are not greasy to touch. 
* Dunk the fried fritters in a bowl of water for about 10 to 15 sec. Remove them and gently squeeze each fritter between palms to remove the excess water.

Assembling the chaat:
Arrange about 4 fried vadas / fritters in a small bowl. Pour about 1/2 cup yogurt yogurt on vadas  and drizzle green and sweet chutneys as much as preferred. Sprinkle chaat masala and red chili powder over the vadas.Garnish with sev and julienned ginger.

 
This goes to blogging marathon #57 under the theme 'Bookmarked Posts' and check here to find out what other marathoners are cooking today.

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