You know how you just take some things for granted and don’t think about them very much?
Well, for me Dahi Baray are one of those things. They have been there at every ‘tea’ that I have been to for just about my entire life and my mother makes a variation (Dahi Phulki/Dahi Boondi) but I never thought about how to make them or what goes in and not because I don’t like them. I can certainly polish off an immense amount of dahi baray, especially the savoury and spicy kind. So much so that I am now grateful that I am pregnant and don’t have to justify how much I eat. I just never thought about how to make them because someone else always did.
This summer I decided to be brave and make Dahi Baray for a potluck lunch and playdate a friend was hosting. Is it brave or foolish to try something a little tricky for the first time for a crowd? Let’s just pretend it is brave since that is the kind of thing I do with some regularity.
The good news is that all is well that ends well and to ensure that it was not some kind of fluke I made them again today for a friend who was visiting from out of town. The very empty dish speaks for itself 🙂
Note Added June 3, 2016: I was recently trying to remember where it was that I learnt to make these and then I remembered that it was on a phone call to my feisty nani who is no longer in the best health. I write this here so that I never forget again that this is one of the many things I learnt from Nanna, the lady that once wore ghararas, carried a paan daan, always used talcum powder in the summer and made some of the best food I have ever eaten.
Dahi Baray Tips and Tricks
Dahi Baray are easy enough, but here are four must knows tips for the softest dahi baray.
1.) Soak your Maash ki daal in advance - overnight is best, but six hours works too. The daal has to be able to break down to grind
2.) Don't add too much water with your Maash ki Daal - you'll end up with watery dahi baray.
3.) If you do end up with watery dahi baray then just add a little besan to the batter and it will fix them! Start with a tbsp or two and do a test batch.
How to Freeze the Baray
Once you fry the fritters for the dahi baray then let them cool completely and put in a ziploc bag, making sure to squeeze all the air out that you can. Then you can freeze them and pull them out as needed. Just defrost at room temperature and give them a warm salted water bath and proceed.
Dahi Baray Always Remind Me Of...
Tried these Dahi Baray? Rate the recipe below! I'd love to see yours so do tag me in your recreations on Instagram!
Dahi Baray
Ingredients
Yogurt Mix
- Yogurt 2 pounds or about 1 ½ times a 750g yogurt carton
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 to 1 ½ tsp cumin powder
Baras or Fried Lentil Dumplings
- 1 cup ma’ash/urad daal – the white kind covered with water and soaked overnight
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ inch piece ginger (peeled, roughly chopped)
Garnish
- Chaat Masala Powder
- Red Chilli Powder
- Tamarind Chutney
- Finely Chopped Cilantro
- Coriander/Mint Chutney
Instructions
For the yogurt mix
- Combine the yogurt, sugar and spices along with ½ cup of water and whisk. I suggest starting with half the amount of chilli powder and cumin powder unless like me you are a fan.
- Taste and check seasoning. Put it in the fridge while you work on the dumplings.
For the dumplings
- Drain the maash ki Daal making sure to reserve about ⅓ cup of soaking liquid.
- Grind all the baray ingredients in a blender along with ¼ cup of the daal water. Only add more if absolutely necessary. You want a very thick paste.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl
- For softer Dahi Baray: Whisk energetically to create volume in the batter, about 4-5 minutes with a large whisk. 2 minutes with an electric mixer works.
- Heat a skillet and add 2 inches of oil and put on medium-high heat for the oil to heat through.
- Meanwhile get another pan or bowl – at least 10 inches in diameter and fill it ⅔ of the way with water. Add a pinch of salt in the water
- Now get a tray or platter and line it with paper towels to help drain the grease from the dumplings.
- Once the oil heats up then gently place a dollop of the batter into the hot oil.
- After a minute and a half the dumpling will turn a lovely golden color at which point you should turn them over and cook for another minute and a half.
- Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
- Put the dumplings in the water bath for a few minutes
To Assemble
- Pour a layer of yogurt mix into your dish of choice.
- Remove the dumplings from the water one by one, gently squeezing them beneath your palms to drain the excess water and then lay them out in rows on top of the yogurt until your dish is filled.
- Top with enough of the yogurt to adequately cover the dumplings and refrigerate.
- Leave it for atleast an hour so the flavours soak through the dumplings.
- Top with your garnishes of choice
Oooh, this sounds amazing.
They are! Like I said I am SO grateful that I am pregnany - don't have to hold back on these babies anymore!
I'm definitely making this for our next dinner party!
Ooh please let me know how they turn out!
These look amazing! I make them similarly too, but I use Urud flour instead of the actual daal... with a toddler, I take as many shortcuts as I can lol 🙂
A.) I absolutely LOVE the name of your blog B.) I didn't even know that Urud flour existed until someone told me about it a few days ago - would make the whole process much quicker and C.) Thanks for stopping by!
This looks so delicious... like SO delicious. I want to eat one right now!
This looks absolutely delicious, my favorite!
Thanks Ambreen!
I made these! And they were excellent. Thank you for such a yummy and simple recipe!
How many people does this recipe serve?
sorry I am just seeing this come up now - I want to say it serves a small army (lol) but I think 8+ easy
can we store/freeze them for later use? just the baray after we give them water bath? thinking of making a big batch for all of ramzan. thanks
Hi Farwah! I think it's in the recipe post, but you can freeze them after frying and before the water bath. Then when you reuse them just thaw and immerse in a warm water bath! enjoy
Last night's iftar was the first time ever in my life that I made dahi baray and thanks to this easy step by step recipe, it seemed like a fun task. We all had as much fun eating these as I had preparing them; so tasty and delish!