Urad Dal Badi | Wadi | Wadiyan | Sun Dried Lentil Dumpling Recipe

Wadi, wadiyan, vadiyal, vadiyalu or badi as we call it it's all same just with different names.  We call vada as bada and wadi as badi both are made of urad dal.  Wadi or Badi is nothing but soaked lentil grind to slight coarse paste and some time with spices then sun dried.  Wadi/badi pair along with any other vegetable makes a delicious curry we just have to fry wadi/badi in oil and use it like any other veggie.  The texture is more like meat though the taste is not exactly like meat and it's also high source of protein.  Vegan and gluten-free these badi/wadi are treat to eat and it's a great resource to have when we don't have much veggie in hand.  The popular combination is of badi/wadiya and potato.
These is the one of the basic badi/wadi recipe but there are lot of other recipes with variations.  In my in-laws place there are so many types of badi/wadi are made that I didn't knew before.  These badi/wadi is from one of the aunt staying near my in-law place and she is popular in whole village for her beautiful, tiny and evenly shaped badi/wadiya.

I heard about this aunt and her famous badi before my marriage from DH and when I finally met her during our wedding I told her ya I know about you and your badi/wadi she was so impressed that she immediately went back and bring small amount of badi/wadi for me.  You can see these are the very small wadi evenly shaped with same size and trust me it's not easy to achieve this, one need lot of patience to do this specially when people make badi/wadi in large quantity to store for whole year.

I didn't went to India along with DH during January this year and she send another batch wadi for me as I really like these cuties how sweet of her.  You can see all the badi/wadi is of same size and shape but you don't have to do this, one can make it medium size too.  Since these are tiny badi/wadi we don't really have to fry them in oil and use, I directly add along with onion and saute and it always works.

Badi | Wadi | Wadiyan Recipe

Author: Priti
Category: Main Dish
Cuisine: North Indian
Shelf Life - Up to a year

Ingredients:

Whole Black Urad Dal or Whole White Urad Dal - 1 kg
Cumin Seeds/Jeera - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 tsp
Salt - To Taste [use less]

Method:

1. Soak over night urad dal, we can use whole black urad dal or whole white urad dal or split black urad dal. Next morning wash urad dal well to remove all skin it will take more than 10-12 wash to do this.
~ If using white urad dal rinsing 3-4 times is enough.
2. Drain washed dal well and grind it to slightly coarse paste with cumin seeds, add water in 1-2 tbsp at time when needed, don't add too much of water.
3. Take out batter in a large bowl, add hing, salt and beat for 7-10 minutes until it becomes fluffy and light.  If it's too hard add 1-2 tbsp water so we can make dumplings.
4. Under ample of sun light lay a clean cloth and secure all corners well with weights (we normally use bricks).
~ Or grease a plate with oil and drop badi/wadi and then sun dry it.
5. Wet hand in water and take little amount of urad dal batter in hand, start drop in small, medium or big size over cloth keep some space in between.  Repeat this until batter get's finished.
~ You can also do this with spoon, take a spoonful of batter and drop in cloth keeping space in between. Try to maintain same size be it of small or medium.
6. Let the badi/wadi get's dry under Sun for 2-3 days, remove all badi/wadi from cloth turn over and dry for 1 more day or until completely dried.
7. Store in air tight containers and use as required.

To make badi/wadi in oven Grease a baking tray well or line it with greased butter paper
Drop wadi/badi pieces keeping some space in between
Bake them in 100C for 3-4 overs or until completely dried, keep checking in intervals.
Remove from oven, allow to cool completely and store.

How to cook Badi/Wadi
1. Heat some oil and fry badi/wadi until golden brown from all sides, keep aside and then use it in any curry you want.
2. If you badi/wadi is large in size then need to soak it in hot water for 10-15 minutes or until it needed. 

Recipes you can check

• Kundru Wadi Sabzi  | Tindora Badi Sabzi
• Lauki Wadi Sabzi | Bottlegourd Badi Sabzi

Notes ~

• Badi/wadi size can be of small, medium or large and drying time depends on the size. Just make it dried well.
• You can also add pepper, green chilli or any other spice.
• Time to dry these wadi/badi depends on how much Sun light you got and the size you made.  Let it dry completely if you break the dried wadi it will break in pieces if it's not breaking means it didn't dry fully.

Have a nice day.