Perugu garelu/Avada/Perugu vada/Fried Urad Dal Dumplings soaked in Yogurt Sauce

Aaaavadaaaaaaa......This dish needs no introduction if you are from Andhra Pradesh. I have grown up seeing my mother, grandmother, great grandmother(yes, my mom's mom's mom) make this dish for festivals and such. Welllll, that being said, I am not a big fan(am not saying I do not like them...just not a big fan.....not the same thing)... On the other hand hubby dear Loves(with a capital L ...note that point) this dish like crazy...

So this is how it goes in our house...I love garelu and he loves Aavada. If you put 1 and 1 together, it will make both of us happy..Some garelu for me and some avada for him from left over garelu...ha ha ha.....What are you waiting for...we do not need festivals to make yummy food..right guys????

Ingredients

For Garelu

Urad Dal
Ginger
Green Chilli
Salt
Onion
Coriander leaves/Cilantro
Oil for frying

For Curd mixture

Curd
Green chilli
ginger
Cilantro
Carrot
Salt

Tempering

Oil
4 Dried red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Chana dal
1/2 tsp Turmeric
couple of pinches of Asafoetida (Inguva)
12 Curry leaves

Method

Step 1 : Yogurt Sauce 

 Grind the green chillies, ginger and salt to a paste. Take the curd in a deep bowl and beat it lightly with a whisk. Add the paste, half of the grated carrots and chopped cilantro. Heat oil in a pan. Add dried red chillies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chana dal, turmeric and Aestofedia. Let them splutter. Add in the curry leaves and fry for few seconds. Turn off the heat and add the tempering to yogurt mixture. Mix well and set it in the refrigerator till the vadas are ready.

Step 2 : Garelu

Soak Urad dal in water overnight.
In a mixer/grinder grind the urad dal, green chillies, ginger and salt, without adding water to tight paste. Grind in batches. The batter must be really tight to make garelu.
Take the batter into a bowl and add onions, cumin seeds, baking soda and coriander leaves. Mix well.

Place thin buttermilk in a medium sized bowl next to the stove.

Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan or kadai. For making the garelu you can use your hands or use polythene cover or plastic grocery bag. I used a plastic grocery bag. Wet the polythene sheet or grocery bag with your hand very lightly. Now wet your hand, take a small ball of batter onto the grocery bag and pat into round shape and punch a hole in the center.

Drop gently into hot oil and fry on each side till golden brown(may be 4 to 5 minutes per side).

Take them out and drain them on a paper towel and immediately drop into the buttermilk bowl. Let them soak for 2 minutes and press each vada between your palms lightly and arrange them on a serving plate.

Step 3: Assembly

Once all the vadas are ready and arranged on the serving platter, pour the curd/yogurt mixture on the vadas evenly. Garnish with rest of grated carrot and cilantro. Let them sit in the refrigerator for couple of hours for better taste.

Yummy yummy avada ready to be gobbled up!!