Dabhi bhallay are best eaten the same day. However you can made them 4-5 hours ahead and refrigerate. Only assemble with yogurt sauce and chatni when ready to serve.
Ingredients
For the Bhallay
Maash daal-------------- 1 cup
Green Chillies--------- 4 - 5 or according to your taste
Ginger--------------------- 1 inch piece
Salt------------------------- 1 tsp
water----------------------- 12 tbsp add one by one
Oil--------------------------- for deep frying
For Yogurt
Yogurt--------------------- 2 cups, preferably Prema or Nestle
Castor Sugar----------- 2 tbsp
Salt------------------------- 1 tsp
For the chatni (imli ki chatni)
Turmeric pulp---------- ½ cup
Salt-------------------------- ½ tsp
Red Chili powder----- optional (I didn't add any)
Sugar----------------------- 3 -4 tbsp of according to taste
Corn flour----------------- to thicken the chatni
Toppings (optional)
Cabbage--------------- thinly sliced
Carrots---------------- thinly sliced
Potatoes--------------- boiled and cubed
Onions-----------------1 medium thinly sliced
Chart Masala----------- for sprinkling on top
Instructions
Soak the daal for at least 6 hours.
Now blend the daal along with salt, green chillies and water.
Blend it to a fine paste.
The paste should be thick and creamy. If the paste or the batter is too thick or too runny, the bhallay will not hold their shape.
Same thing happens if you do not enter the EXACT amount of baking soda to the daal. Baking soda is strong hence too much baking soda will not let the bhallay hold their shape. All you'll get is a pool of batter or if you're lucky, some de-formed phulkian.
Now separately, heat oil in a deep frying pan (karahi).
Add a tablespoon full of the batter into the hot oil. Gently ddrop the batter into the hot oil, one tablespoon at a time. And the tablespoon should be at 90 angles to the pan when dropping the batter.
They will immediately come to the surface of the oil, fry till light golden brown.
Throw 'em in a bowl of lukewarm water.
Let them sit in lukewarm water for 2-3 minutes then press the water out of each bhalla, gently. And place them into your serving dish.
Now mix all the ingredients of the yogurt sauce into the yogurt and pour over the bhallays.
To make the chatni, first soak the tamarind (imli) into 1 cup of lukewarm water for half an hour, to get the pulp out and discard the seeds.
Now pour the pulp along with the water into a saucepan, throw in sugar and salt, add red chillies if you like (I didn't add any) and give everything a good stir.
Once the sugar dissolves, thicken the sauce with cornflour solution.
Drizzle the chatni over the bhallay and let it chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
Add some toppings or not totally depends on your mood and liking.
Notes
You can make the chatni in advance and store it in the refrigerator.
If the dahi bhallay absorb all of the yogurt just before you are ready to serve, just pour more of the yogurt and get the thing going.
Recipe by The Chef in Me at https://thechefinme.pk/how-to-make-the-perfect-dahi-bhallay/