Sepu vadi comes from Mandi and is one of the dishes that makes a dham feel complete. Urad dal is ground, shaped and fried into vadis (dumplings), then simmered in a smooth spinach gravy with yogurt and spices.
It is the green dish you will see on almost every dham plate.
Sepu Vadi (Mandi-style)
- Prep
- 4 hr 20 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Total
- 5 hr
- Makes
- 4 servings
- Diet
- Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the vadis
For the spinach gravy
Method
- Make the vadi batter
Grind the drained dal with ginger, chilli and salt into a thick, fluffy batter, using very little water. Whisk it by hand for 2 minutes to aerate.
- Steam or fry the vadis
Shape the batter into small round vadis and deep-fry in mustard oil until golden. (Traditionally the batter is steamed as a cake, cut into pieces, then fried.)
- Start the gravy
Heat the oil or ghee, add cumin and hing, then ginger paste, turmeric, coriander and chilli powder.
- Add spinach and yogurt
Add the spinach puree and cook for 5 minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the yogurt gradually.
- Simmer with vadis
Add salt and ½ cup water, bring to a gentle simmer, add the vadis and cook for 8–10 minutes so they soak up the gravy. Finish with garam masala.
Tips from our kitchen
- Blanch the spinach for just 1 minute and plunge it into cold water to keep the colour bright.
- Add the vadis just before serving if you like them with a bit of bite.
