For thayir vadai, we usually don’t add onions. I soaked 1 cup of urad dal and grinded it along with 2 chillies and divided the batter into two portions. To one I added onion and used for sambar vadai and to the other I added 1 tbsp of chopped ginger and few curry leaves broken into small pieces. I mixed them well and prepared the vadas in a regular way. You can find the detailed vadai recipe in this post.
Preparing the yogurt mix
Beat the yogurt along with ½ cup of water. I beat the yogurt in my blender. You need semi-thick yogurt mix.
Now add the sugar and salt and mix well.
Heat a tadka pan and add oil.
Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and hing.
As they start to splutter add the curry leaves. (I broke into small pieces)
Add this tempering to the yogurt and mix well.
Assembling Thayir Vadai
Add the hot water to the prepared vadas and soak them nicely for about 15 minutes.
Now take these vadas to the serving plate and add the prepared yogurt mix to each plate. Make sure the vadas are soaked nicely.
Now drizzle the boondi and paprika.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.
That’s it. Yummy thayir vadai is ready.
Notes
Sugar is optional in thayir vadai.
The water that you pour on the vadai should be piping hot, so that the vada soaks well.