Thayir Vada / South Indian Curd vada

The South Indian version of curd vada or Thayir vada is very different from the Dahi bhalla served in North India.
Here a curry made with coconut and curd is used to immerse the vada which are shaped like dough nuts.
These vadas are more heavy than the north Indian version.
The North Indian version first immerses the balls of vada in hot water and then transfers it to the curd. Sweet chutney and spicy coriander-mint chutney is used as topping.

Ingredients:
Uzhundu Vada - 12
Coconut - 1 cup
Curd - 1 cup
Salt
Green Chilli - 3
Ginger - 1 inch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard - 1 tsp

Garnish:
Carrot  grated
Sev / boondhi
Coriander leaf
Curry leaf
Thick curd - 1/2 cup , broken and made a bit loose

Note: Always use a flat plate to store your immersed vada till serving time, as they loose shape easily.

Method:
Grind the salt, green chilies and ginger into a fine paste with the coconut and mix with the curd and add 1 cup of water.
Heat 1 tbsp oil and splutter the mustard in it.
Now add the spiced curd to this and once it starts bubbling, turn off flame.
Taste. It must be a bit spicy and salty. This is our buttermilk.

If your vadas are cold, spread on flat plate and pour the hot butter milk on top.
Otherwise cool the butter milk and add the freshly fried vadas to the spiced butter milk.
Store in fridge in the flat plate without the vadas overlapping each other till serving time.
Keep covered (aluminium foil) to prevent drying.
After about 1 hour turn over the vadas, so that the butter milk soaked inside can permeate down.

Just before serving, remove the vada from the plate into induvidual serving bowls. It would have absorbed all the butter milk. So serve with more curd and other garnishes on top.