Low Calorie Dahi Balle | Lentil Dumplings in Spiced Yogurt

The Recipe ReDux challenge for this month was really very interesting and challenging.It was interesting as we had an open the month- Grab a Book and Cook.The Challenge was to cook from any cook that we own and give it a healthy spin!And the additional challenge was to cook from page 42 or 142!!

I do have a lot of cookbooks and I was really eager to cook from one of those. But most of the books that I have already gives the healthy way to make that dish.So after a lot of searching , I landed on this recipe…

Dahi Balle is a North Indian snack made with lentils.  The lentil dumpling are deep fried and then soaked in a spiced yogurt mixture. It is an absolute treat to the taste buds but since it is calorie / fat ridden most people do not take too much of this.

As mentioned earlier,the original recipe requires frying the dumplings in oil and I have given it a healthy twist by cooking them in an Æbleskiver pan / paniyam pan without using a drop of oil!


This also goes to MLLA #78, that I am hosting here this month….

This recipe is from the book – Earthbound – Navdanya’s Guide to Easy Organic Cooking

I used:
Makes- 25-30 dumplings [Depending on the size]

Urad dhal- 1 cup
Shallots / pearl onions- 10, peeled and roughly chopped
Cumin-1 teaspoon
Green chili-2, chopped
Salt to taste

Low fat Yogurt – as needed
Red chili powder
Roasted cumin powder
Salt to taste

Raisins- a few

Coriander leaves to garnish

Wash and soak urad dal in water for at least 3 hours. Drain well. In a blender jar take the drained lentil, chopped shallots,green chili, cumin seeds and grind to a smooth batter. Add very little water in between. The batter must be as thick as possible.

Meanwhile soak the raisins in warm water for half an hour.Drain and keep aside.

To the batter, add salt and mix well. Heat the Æbleskiver pan  [I used a non stick one] and when it turns warm drop a tablespoon of batter into the depressions. Cover and cook on low heat for a few minutes till you see small bubbles on top. Remove lid and continue to cook on low flame.When the dumplings begin to pull away from the sides, gently turn them over using a spoon.Cook on both sides till light / golden brown in color.remove and keep aside. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Whisk the yogurt with salt and add the raisins. Arrange the dumplings on a serving tray. Top it up with the whisked yogurt. Serve garnished with red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander leaves.

Though this is not as crispy as the deep fried version, it is definitely delicious and you can really give in to the temptation.

Can you see how soft it is on the inside!!!!

Bon Appetit…