Ingredients: cup Black Urad Dal (Split) - soaked overnight, Green Chillies - chopped, inch Ginger, - to taste, pinch Enos fruit salt - or soda, teaspoon Lemon juice, teaspoon Sunflower Oil - ¼ and more for frying vadis, grams Spinach, cup Curd (Dahi / Yogurt), tablespoon Mustard oil, Dry Red Chilli - deseeded, Cloves (Laung), Cinnamon Stick (Dalchini), Cardamom (Elaichi) Pods/Seeds - pounded, Bay leaf (tej patta), teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera), Green Chilli - finely chopped, pinch Asafoetida (hing), teaspoon Coriander Powder (Dhania), teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera), teaspoon Red Chilli powder, teaspoon Fennel Powder, teaspoon Black pepper powder - freshly crushed, teaspoon Dill leaves, - to taste, High Protein Vegetarian diet
Instructions: For the Dumplings (Vadi)To make Sepu Vadi Recipe (Himachali Split Urad Dal Dumplings In Spinach Gravy), make the dumplings by washing and soaking urad dal (split black gram) in about 1.5-2 cups water overnight.Drain and wash the dal.Heat water in a steamer and let it boil.In a blender/grinder jar, combine washed and drained urad dal, ginger, green chilli and grind to make a smooth paste adding about ¼ cup water gradually, so that the mixture is very thick and forms a paste.Take the paste in a bowl and add salt. Whisk it well till it becomes light and fluffy.Add eno and lemon juice and immediately transfer the mixture to a greased plate and steam for about 15-20 minutes.Remove from steamer and insert a toothpick to check whether it is done. If toothpick comes out clean, our vadi is ready. If it doesn’t come out clean, steam for another few minutes more.Meanwhile heat enough oil in a deep frying pan to fry the vadis.Cut the steamed vadis into square pieces.Deep fry the vadi pieces in hot oil till they are crisp and golden in colour.For the Palak PureeSoak Palak leaves in a bowl of water and pinch of salt for about 5 minutes.Remove the stems from the leaves. Roughly chop the leaves.Add water in a wide pan and bring to a boil. Then add spinach leaves and cook for 2 minutes.Immediately remove and soak the leaves in a bowl of ice cold water for a minute. Drain all the excess water.In a mixer/blender jar, add blanched palak leaves, dill leaves and about 1-2 tablespoons water and blend till you get a smooth puree.Keep the spinach puree aside.For the GravyHeat oil in a kadai. Add dry red chilli, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf and cumin seeds.Once they splutter, add green chilli and hing. Saute for a couple of seconds.Now turn off the flame and add jeera powder, dhaniya powder, red chili powder, fennel powder and black pepper powder. Mix well. Turn on the flame and saute for 1-2 minutes on a low flame so that spice powders does not burn.Add spinach puree and cook for about 2-3 minutes.Now add salt, whisked curd and the fried sepu vadis and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes. At this stage, you may add required quantity of water as per the consistency of the gravy you prefer. Switch off heat once the gravy is well combined.Serve Sepu Vadi Recipe (Split Urad Dal Dumplings In Spinach Gravy) with Papad Parathas Recipe, Pudina Tawa Paratha (Mint Leaf Skillet Flat Bread) or steamed rice.