• Wash urad dal thrice and soak for at least 4 to 6 hours. Chill 1 cup water in the refrigerator to blend the lentils later.

Make Tamarind Chutney

• Add 1 cup water, tamarind, jaggery and dates to a pot. Simmer for 4 to 5 mins until the tamarind turns completely mushy.
• Stir in red chili powder, salt, cumin powder, fennel powder, dry ginger powder and coriander powder or garam masala. Mix and boil for 2 minutes until the aroma of spices comes out. If the mixture becomes too thick, pour ¼ cup hot water.
• Taste test to adjust salt and jaggery to your preference. Cool down, blend and pass through a sieve to a wide bowl.
• Optionally temper - Heat a teaspoon of oil or ghee in a pan. Add hing and then pour the tamarind chutney. Simmer for 2 to 3 mins until bubbling hot & thick. Cool this completely.
• Transfer this to a dry glass or ceramic jar. Store this in fridge and use up within 4 to 6 weeks.

Make Green Chutney

• Add coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chili, ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, lemon juice, roasted gram & salt to a blender jar. Grind to a smooth chutney, adding water (2 to 3 tbps) only as needed. Taste test to adjust salt and spice.

Make Batter

• Drain the water from soaked urad dal and add to a blender jar. Also add cumin, salt, green chili, ginger, hing and pour 2 tbsps chilled water.
• Grind for a minute and scrape the sides, repeat blending adding 1 tbsp water each time only as needed until the batter turns thick, fluffy and light. (Avoid adding too much water as it makes the batter runny. We want a thick & fluffy batter here.)
• When the batter is ground perfectly, it looks lighter in color. Remove to a bowl. Using your hand or a whisk, whisk/ aerate it well for 1 min in one direction.
• Test the consistency – drop ¼ tsp batter to a bowl of water. If it floats it means the batter is aerated well else blend it a little longer or whisk a little longer.
• Stir in the cashews if using.
• To a large bowl, pour 2 to 3 cups water and ½ teaspoon salt. Keep this aside on the kitchen counter.

Fry Vadas

• On a medium flame, heat oil in a kadai. Test if the oil is hot enough by sliding ½ tsp batter. It should sizzle and come to the surface steadily without turning brown.
• Grease your fingers or a tablespoon or a fruit scooper. Take small portions of the batter and gently slide into the oil.
• Fry on a medium heat, untouched for 3 minutes and then stir them. Continue to fry until golden and crisp. Remove to a steel colander or lined rack.
• Transfer the hot fried vadas to the bowl of water. Rest them for 15 to 20 mins, rotating them with a spoon in between. Timing may vary depending on the size of the vadas.
• While these rest fry the next batch of vadas. Repeat the same process of soaking them in water.

How to make Dahi Vada

• Add 2½ cups yogurt, a tbsp of powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon salt to a large wide bowl (big enough to hold all your vadas). Beat well with a whisk until smooth. It should not be too thick like Greek yogurt and not very runny. Taste test and adjust salt.
• Gently press down the vadas in between spatulas or your palms one after the other to remove most of the water. Drop these to the bowl of yogurt & ensure all of the vadas are dunked in the yogurt well.
• Cover this and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. This is when the dahi vadas soak up a bit of yogurt and flavor.
• They will be softer by 2 hours. If you like more yogurt, whisk another half cup yogurt with sugar and salt. Pour that as well. Transfer the dahi vadas to serving tray or plates.
• Top with a generous amounts of green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney.
• Sprinkle cumin powder, chaat masala, black salt and red chili powder. Garnish with coriander leaves. Adjust the quantity of chutneys, chaat masala, cumin powder and red chili powder to suit your taste.
• Serve dahi vada immediately after you sprinkle the spice powders.