This classic recipe just got healthier and lighter on stomach. By some easy twists and tweaks, you will be able to enjoy your favorite dahi-baray in a much mindful way.
Dahi baray (also known as dahi bhalle, dahi vade, dahi bade) are a famous Indian street food. These are particularly popular during Ramadan (fasting month for Muslims) at iftar time (breaking the fast). They are usually made by grinding lentils and deep frying the batter to make dumplings. These dumplings are then added to a yogurt sauce before being topped with different kinds of chutneys and chaat masala. But this version is a healthier take on the classic, still providing the same flavour.
How is this version healthier?
There are a few tweaks to the classic recipe which makes this version healthier and lighter on the stomach.
- Baked instead of deep fried: I bake my baras instead of deep frying them, keeping all the ingredients same. They come out really soft, light and non-greasy. Tasting them you won’t feel that they are any different from the regular(fried?) ones.
- Hing (asafoetida) water immersion: Since maash daal could be particularly heavy on the stomach, we use hing in this recipe. Hing helps in digestion. We submerge the baras into hing water which also make the baras moist and soft.
- Kefir instead of yogurt: I use kefir instead of dahi (yogurt) to make my dahi-baray. Kefir is a fermented drink which has a good amount of probiotics. It is healthy for the gut and lighter on the stomach. However, yogurt isn’t a bad option too. You can of course opt for yogurt if kefir is not available to you.
- Date and tamarind chuntey (without sugar) instead of any sugar-loaded chutney: Dates are rich in fiber and iron. We replace these for sugar in our meethi chutney, which makes it more nutritious. You will find the recipe of our date and tamarind chutney here.
Does it taste exactly like the regular dahi-baray?
Yes! You will hardly be able to tell that these are any different than the ones that are deep fried. The ingredients are all the same. Only the method of cooking them is different here.
What if you do not have Kefir?
If you do not have kefir, you can simple replace it with yogurt. Beat some yogurt and thin it out a bit by adding some water. Exact quantities are mentioned in the recipe below. Use it in the recipe where kefir is specified.
Can you freeze the baras?
Yes! These baras are freezer-friendly. I always make a big batch and freeze some to save time later. Freeze them into a ziplock bag or an airtight container just after baking (when they reach room temperature). When needed for consumption, you can directly soak frozen baras into hot water to get a moist and fluffy consistency.
What ingredients would you need to make these dahi-baras?
Notes on ingredients:
- Maash (urad) daal and moong (mung spilt) daal are available at most Indian stores.
- Baking soda is available by the name Kaiser Natron in Germany. Don’t confuse it with baking powder. It won’t give you the same results.
- Kefir is available at most well stocked grocery stores like Edeka, Rewe, Real etc. You can substitute it with beaten yogurt, mixed with some water.
- Hing (asafoetida) is often available at many Indian stores. If you can’t find it, just skip it.
- Black salt is available at Indian stores.
- Roasted ground cumin could be made at home, simply by roasting cumin seeds until fragrant and then grinding them into powder.
- Green chutney: This is my spicy mint and coriander chutney. I prefer making my own at home. You can find the recipe here.
- Sweet chutney: I make this one at home too without added sugar, using dates and tamarind. You will find the recipe here.
- Chaat masala is also easily available at Indian stores. My favorite one is MDH chunky chaat masala.
Another essential for making these baked baras is a silicone tray mold. This allows you to easily take out the baras after being baked without breaking them. I highly recommend you to invest in one. Here is the link of the one which I am using.
Watch the video below to easily follow the recipe
Baked Dahi-Baray (with kefir)
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Wash the maash and moong daals thoroughly until the water comes out clear. Soak overnight or at least 5 hours.
- Drain all the excess water from the daal and transfer to a blender jar. Add the cumin seeds, ginger, green chilies, salt and water into the blender jar. Blend until a smooth paste is formed. Then transfer to a big bowl.
- Add the baking soda and lemon juice and mix until very well combined.
- Set the oven to preheat at 180° Celsius.
- Grease all the molds in the the silicone tray lightly with olive oil using a brush. Pour a tablespoon of batter into each mold.
- Bake at 180° Celsius for 15 minutes.
- Take put from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes before taking the baras out of the tray. (If you are planning to freeze some, do it at this point).
- In the meantime, prepare the hing water by adding the hing to the water. If you are not using hing, you may just skip hing and use plain warm water.
- Transfer your baked baras to the prepared hing water. Make sure to submerge them completely with water and let them soak for 10 minutes.
- In the meanwhile prepare the dahi mixture by adding the roasted ground cumin, red chili and black salt into the kefir (or yogurt). Keep aside until needed.
- Take the baras out of the water, one at a time. Place it onto your palm and press gently with your fingers to squeeze out the liquid from it. You do not need to get rid of all the liquid, just a gently squeeze is enough. Make sure not to break the baras. Place the baras in a single layer onto a serving dish.
- Cover the baras with the prepared dahi mixture. Add the green chutney and the sweet chutney. Sprinkle chaat masala on top. Garnish with pomegranate seeds and coriander leaves.
- You may keep it in the refrigerator for an hour to let the baras soak the yogurt and chutneys. Serve!
Excellent recipe! The baras turned out so soft ! Plus they were not fried and I could freeze them easily.
Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated 🙂
I am trying it out today, but I am having problem to scale the recipe up.
5cm of ginger, how many grams, because, using Indian organic is half in weight as compared to Chines which is more popular in this part of the world.
I suggest culinary content writer to weigh just about everything in grams (a decimal weighing system, most popular world wide, is a digital number easy to scale).
Even the use of Cup for measuring is misguiding because, in household cooking any cup is used for measurement and not specifically measuring cup (250ml). 1 cup mint may be chopped leaves or loose leaves, by 50g mint leaves makes the requirements precise & scalable.
I would be able to extend the recipe, with my 350g of soaked Urid Chhilke wali (deviation from your selection) because my mom would always use that and her reason was on grinding the skin creates air pockets being a little firmer & lots of nutrition in them.
Thank you.
Blessings & Best Wishes
Hi, I get your point. 5cm of ginger would be roughly 3-4 grams. A little more or less wouldn’t make a big difference on the taste.
I have given the grams measurements for the daals though which is crucial for the recipe. I have included cup measurements as well because some people prefer that.
I will keep your suggestions in mind though for the future recipes.
Thanks and regards
Mizna
When you freeze the bara, what’s the process when you want to eat? How long do you soak in hing water? And do you use warm hing water, or regular?
If you have frozen your badas, use hot water and directly add the frozen badas into it for defrosting. Soak them for about 15-20 minutes and then squeeze gently to drain the excess water.
I made this today for freezing. Why are my barays hard?
Hi Divya, there could be a number of reasons.
1. Baking soda not active anymore (check expiry).
2. Batter made ahead of time.
3. Lemon not added just before baking.
4. Oven not preheated or oven temperature different. If this is the case, try it with somewhat higher temperature next time as every oven is slightly different.
Hope it helps.
This recipe turned out perfect, even though I didn’t have the silicone baking tray and baked them in the metal one.
P.s the precise water quantity mentioned was so helpful, it made the blending process smooth. I have always struggled with blending the daal as other recipes tell you to use minimum amount of water.
Thank you for this recipe.
I appreciate your wonderful feedback. Thank you so much.
Loved the recipe super delicious and so gentle on the stomach
My stomach is thanking me 🙂
So happy to know that. Thank you for your feedback.
Hi , can we use air fryer to bake it. If yes then can you kindly share the details like temperature and time?
Thank you
I have not personally cooked them in an air fryer. But I have got feedback from people who have done that. You could try at 170 Celsius for 10 minutes and increase the temperature by 180 if it doesn’t look done by then. Let me know if that works.
If I’m making the baras and not freezing them do I still need to soak it in warm water?
If your yogurt mixture is on the runny side, you can skip soaking them in water. You will have to give them 2-3 hours to let the yogurt get absorbed. Hope that helps.
I just made these and enjoyed them! The first batch came out a bit bland so I added more cumin and crushed red chili. They are so soft, delicate, fluffy and healthy!
The only thing I will say is that if one is looking for or thinking this will be a full replacement to the deep fried version, it won’t. I had both healthier friends try this and old school elderly aunties and uncles who have been traditionally cooking their whole lives to see if this is a dish that can work for both audiences. I can see myself making this recipe for myself and health conscious friends again. But when it comes to old school aunties and uncles, this is not a dish that will placate them as a 1 to 1 swap with their deep fried baras.
This isn’t a ding to this recipe or the author, just for others who try this recipe to manage their own expectations, is all 🙂
Hi Nur, I appreciate your honest feedback. Thank you.
Asalaam ualaikum. I’m trying to make these delicious baras. I wondered if you can grill these as my oven is not working at the moment?
Jazakhillahu khairan
Gulshan
I have got feedback from people that they also work in an air fryer but not sure how they will turn out on a grill. Or how do you plan to mold them an a grill. I have no personal experience with that so can’t guide you on it.
Just made this for iftar today and omg my whole bowl finished. The baras were soft and no one guessed they weren’t fried. Thanks again for an excellent recipe which is healthy at the same time.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback. Really appreciated it.
I make these every year since you published the recipe. They turn out so great!
Hi Ayesha. Thank you so much for leaving your feedback. Glad that you liked these.
Hi , can these be steamed?
You will need a appe pan or idli maker if you want to steam these.