I have been gardening these days. I have always been fond of it and I guess its love runs in our family. But in the past, I limited myself to only container gardening because of apartment living and that’s the most appropriate one for it. When we bought our own home last year, I was like a kid in a candy store. So much land to work with. What plans I had in my mind…..then the reality of hard work hit me like a ton of bricks. On top of that, my soil was hard clay full of rocks. Long story short, I decided to build my own raised beds. To dig out the sods and make a 13 feet by 10 feet raised bed is not for the easy goers. That is why a lot of people, get this work done professionally.
But honestly, that was the easy part coz it was one-time. Taking care of your plants every single day…now that’s the difficult task. Every few days, you have to save your plants from one or the other unwanted guest. Rabit, squirrel, bird, moths, caterpillars, bacterial and viral diseases, to name a few. A plant is healthy and beautiful today with blooms setting in and you are impatiently waiting for them to bear fruits and bam! the next day it is all wilted and yellow and spotted coz some virus hit it. Or you have your tomato plant loaded with beautiful tomatoes and you are days away from them ripening and you find the caterpillar ate away your beautiful produce. It is not just physically frustrating seeing your efforts going to waste but also emotionally draining too because you had put your heart into the process.
It made me respect the farmers so much more. Their livelihood depends on crops and rain and so many variables. You can truly understand this experience only if you have ever planted a plant and seen a few die too. But the joy of harvest is also totally worth all the pain and heart-break. Even though I have not used any home-grown stuff in this post, I will be using them in coming posts for sure. Stay tuned for those. Meanwhile soft, melt-in-mouth, delicious dahi bada for these excruciating summers. They are fluffy, puffy and extremely light. Perfect to beat the heat!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Urad dal
- 1/4 cup yellow Moong dal
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 tbsp. grated Ginger
- 3 cups Water
- 2 tsp Salt
- pinch of Heeng
- full fat Yogurt
- Salt
- Red chili Powder
- Roasted Cumin Powder
- Black Salt
- dry Mint Powder
- Keri Dhaniye Ki Chutney
- Dates Tamarind Chutney
- Cilantro
- Fried Cashews
- Fried Raisins
Instructions
- Soak Urad dal and moong dal for 4-5 hours.
- Drain water completely and add the dals to mixer.
- To it, add ginger and little water. Blend well until a smooth, silky paste. Add as little water a possible.
- The batter should be quite thick. Because I blended the dals in vitamix, they were already all whisked and whipped to a light and fluffy batter. Else whip the batter until a drop of batter floats on the water.
- Heat some oil in a wok on medium heat.
- Gently drop small walnut size badas into oil and fry until light golden brown.
- Mean while heat water to soak the badas. Once it boils turn off the heat. Add salt and Heeng to it.
- When first batch of badas are done, drop them in hot water and let it soak into it for 5-10 minutes.
- Place badas between your palms and gently squeeze the water out.
- Place them in a bowl.
- Repeat the same thing for all the badas.
- Whisk yogurt well. Add little water to make it pouring consistency. Pour it over the badas until they are fully soaked and keep it in fridge for 1-2 hrs to chill. This will also help the badas absorb yogurt well.
- Once badas are chilled, add more chilled yogurt and some fried raisins and cashews.
- Add the spices and chutneys as per your taste. Garnish with some chopped cilantro and Enjoy.
Notes
Aeration of the batter is the key to make fluffy and light badas.
Once you aerate the batter, you have to fry the badas right away. Do not make the batter in the mixer if you are not planning to fry the badas immediately.
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