American

Dahi Toast

by:
June 29, 2020
5
4 Ratings
Dahi Toast
Photo by Brinda Ayer
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 10 minutes
  • Makes 6 sandwiches
Author Notes

Out of all my mom’s greatest breakfast hits, dahi toast is easily the most the beloved in our family. This sandwich—a loose interpretation of a recipe from one of my dad’s friends—is totally unexpected (who would ever think to put yogurt between bread?!) and impossible not to like. Imagine a tangier, spicier grilled cheese sandwich. You get that satisfying oily bread crunch, but with onions, chiles, and (my favorite part) a crispy topping of black mustard seeds and curry leaves added into the mix. The glue that holds this recipe together is the tang of the sourdough bread—it’s the perfect foil to the rich, ricotta-like filling. We are a house divided when it comes to accompaniments for dahi toast—my mom and sister like cilantro chutney, while I prefer ketchup. My dad uses both: He swirls the chutney and ketchup together to create a kinda ugly-colored but admittedly delicious super-sauce.

Excerpted from Indian-ish © 2019 by Priya Krishna with Ritu Krishna. Photography © 2019 by Mackenzie Kelley. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. —Priya Krishna

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking the toasts
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
  • 3 sprigs fresh curry leaves, stripped (24 to 30 leaves)
  • 1 cup low-fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (stems and leaves)
  • 2 small Indian green chiles or serrano chiles, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to tste
  • 1 pinch red chile powder (like cayenne), plus more to taste
  • 12 large slices white sourdough bread
  • Ketchup, for serving (optional)
  • Cilantro chutney, for serving (optional)
Directions
  1. In a butter warmer or small pan over low heat, warm the oil. Once the oil is warm but not super hot, add the black mustard seeds and as soon as they begin to pop and dance around in the oil, which should be within seconds, remove the pan from the heat. Add the curry leaves, making sure they get fully coated in the oil (there may be more popping and splattering, and that’s okay!). The leaves should immediately crisp up in the residual heat. Set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together the yogurt, onion, cilantro, green chiles, salt, black pepper, and red chile powder. Spread the yogurt mixture over 6 slices of the bread and top with the remaining slices to make 6 sandwiches.
  3. In a large pan over medium heat, warm 1 teaspoon oil. Once the oil begins to shimmer, reduce the heat to low and add as many sandwiches as will fit in the pan. Cook until the undersides are crisp and lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes, then flip them, add another teaspoon of oil to the pan, and cook until the other side is crisp and slightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer the sandwiches to a platter and repeat to cook the remaining sandwiches.
  4. Divide the spiced oil mixture evenly over the top of the sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in half and serve immediately with a side of ketchup and/or chutney, if desired.
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3 Reviews

Heather
Heather July 10, 2022
This is an ingenious recipe and well worth the effort! It's become a regular feature for us. I've served it to my MIL and she approved heartily--she is discerning.
I like using full-fat yogurt and once prepped, it keeps well in the fridge for up to a week. Don't skimp on the tadka/spiced-ghee and be generous with the curry leaves as they are will be vied for! Also, set aside the 5-6 minutes to make the chutney. It's a small fuss for the next-level add-on and you will definitely find ways to use it up (marinate fish or chicken, incorporate into a salad dressing, etc.)
 
Colleen C.
Colleen C. September 22, 2020
This recipe was delicious as written, but the 2nd time I decided to fry the sandwiches open faced with avocado slices on top and I drizzled the oil over the avocado for a fantastic sandwich! My family loved, loved it.
 
Cindy C.
Cindy C. July 12, 2020
OMG Dahi toast where have you been all my life! I didn't expect this to be this excellent. I didn't feel like making coriander chutney so I had it with sweet lime pickle, because, any excuse to use lime pickle! Also, I brushed the bread with the spiced oil and grilled it in a cast iron pan