Sepu vadi- A healthy spinach curry with steamed white lentil dumplings
Sepu vadi is a specialty from the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh . The sepu vadi/ Dumplings are made of ground fermented lentils/urad daal, which are first boiled in water and then deep fried in mustard oil. The gravy is made with spinach, dill,yogurt and whole spices.
Sepu vadi is Best served with Rotis (Indian flat breads) cumin rice or just plain steamed rice. I have learned this from a friend of mine, and tweaked it a bit. Hope you will like this traditional Himachali recipe.
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Sepu Vadi , Lentil Dumplings in Spinach Gravy
Ingredients
For the dumpling/ Vadi
- 1 cup Urad daal / White lentil – 1 cup
- 1/2 tsp Crushed fennel seeds /kuti hui saunf- 1/2 tsp
- 1/2 tsp Crushed pepper corns/kuti hui kali mirch – 1/2 tsp
- 1/2 tsp Salt /namak- 1/2 tsp
For the Gravy
- 2 Tomatoes / Tamatar chopped
- 1 cup Curd /dahi
- 100 gms Spinach /palak-
- 2 tsp Dill leaves /suwa optional
- 4 Cloves/laung
- 10 Peppercorns/kali mirch
- 2 Green chilies/Hari Mirch
- 2 Green Cardamom/hari elaichi
- 1/4 tsp Black Salt/Rock Salt
- 1 tsp Table Salt
- 1/3 tsp Turmeric /haldi
- 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder/ Laal Mirch
- 1/4 tsp Fennel powder/ Pisi Saunf
- 1.5 tsp Lemon Juice / Nimbu Ka Ras
- 3 cup Water / Paani
For Tempering
- 2 tbsp Mustard oil
- 1 tsp Cumin seed
- 1 tsp Coriander seed crushed
- 1/3 tsp Asafoetida / Hing powder
- 1 Black Cardamom / Badi Elaichi
- 1.5 tsp Ginger / Adrak
- 1 Bayleaves/ Tejpatta
- 1/2 inch Cinnamon /daalchini
Instructions
For The Vadi/ Dumpling
- Wash and soak ‘urad daal’ (white lentils) in 2 glasses of water for 4-5 hours.
- Drain, wash and grind to make a smooth paste of moderate thickness.
- Take the paste out in a bowl and keep it covered for 2 hours to let it ferment (I skipped this step).
- Whisk well to make it lighter and then add 1 tsp of crushed fennel, 1/2 tsp of crushed pepper corns and 1/2 tsp of salt. Mix well.
- Heat 2.5 glasses of water in a pan, and when it starts boiling take a big lump of the ground daal mixture (made in step 4) and drop in the boiling water and let it boil for 5 minutes.
- Take the boiled lump out in a plate and let it cool down for 5 minutes and then chop to make medium size pieces.
- Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the vadi pieces (made in step 5) till they’re golden in colour (traditionally frying and cooking is done in mustard oil only, but you can use your choice of cooking oil for frying).
For The Gravy
- Wash and blanch spinach in hot boiling water for a minute.
- Drain and refresh in cold water and then grind with dill, green chilies, green cardamoms, cloves and peppercorns to make a fine paste.
- Take out in a bowl and mix curd and whisk well,then add 2.5 cup water and mix.(A)
- Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil in a pan, add 1 tsp of cumin seeds, crushed coriander seeds, grated ginger, bay leaves, cinnamon, 1 whole black cardamom (slightly crush to open the mouth) and asafoetida.
- When cumin start crackling add turmeric, chili powder and fennel powder.
- Add spinach mixture (A).Let it boil for 5 minutes.
- Now add salt and the fried dumplings (sepu vadis) and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add lemon juice and serve hot.
- Serving suggestions – Best served with cumin rice/plain rice and chapati.
Hello Aunty! How many/much tomatoes should we use for the gravy? The recipe doesn’t mention it. thanks for all your recipes. Me and a lot of my friends use your blog! hope you are feeling well these days!
Hello Juhi , I am doing good ,Glad you and your friends liked maayeka 🙂 I have used 2 medium tomatoes for the gravy, have updated the post . Thank you
Appearance gives 5 star to this mouthwatering dish. Thank you for posting such recipes and I would love to hear more about himachali cuisine.
Thanks
chander
Super innovative recipe…yum
Wow, looks superb and have bookmarked it..
Never had this dish, looks super catchy and colourful.
I read the similar recipe long back in some blog. And forgot to bookmark it .. Good that you posted this here.. I wanted to make similar stuff for so long.
Thanks for linking it to the event .. 🙂
Healthy delicious and very colorful..
Divya's Culinary Journey
This looks super delicious!! Perfect dish, as always 🙂
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
very nice…
Vegetable Fried Rice using Normal Rice
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VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA
yummy and delicious.. would love to try it..
I love the vadis.. my mom used to dry these in the sun (after grinding) and store for later use. We also make them in onion gravy and tomato gravy.
this is delicious. never heard of dumplings this way but now i know next time how my spinach is going to be served.
Mysore pak
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oh the combination of dill and spinach!!! superb!
Very delicious and mouthwatering dish…
The lentil dumpling sounds good with spinach gravy…It has to be delicious..
Lovely recipe….The platter looks inviting
Sound delicious! Love authentic recipes. Thank you! I know will be using your blog for my kitchen!! 😉
Looks just absolutely yummy!!
Totally new recipe to me,healthy & yummy!!
Looks yum and a nice traditional recipe, would like to have some
I love this. Shepu vadi is a favorite and it has been a long time I made it. beautiful pictures too.