[Vocabulary] Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

[Aamir Tariq]

Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

Do you refer to them as "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce" or "Lentil dumplings in yogurt" in English in your English speaking countries, however, they are originally from Pakistan and India and they are spicy to eat.

They are known as

Dahi Bhallay (as well as) Dahi Vada in both Urdu and Hindi.
Note that Dahi means Yogurt while
Bhalla means a Lentil Ball
Bhallay is the plural form of Bhalla which certainly means Lentil Balls.

Regards,
Aamir the Global Citizen

 

[Skrej]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

I've never heard of them or tried them, but based on their folded shape, they look more like some kind of dumpling to me, than a ball.

Balls are servings of the food rolled into a round shape, such as meatballs. Dumplings tend to have a filling inside some kind of dough that's been folded over and pinched shut.

They look like some kind of pierogies in sauce, to me.

However, if I was familiar with them, I'd just call them by one of the names you list. I think we've mentioned before that when discussing foreign foods, English just tends to borrow the name from the original language.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

If they were on the menu of an Indian restaurant, they'd be listed as dahi bhallai and dahi vada.

 

[tedmc]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

Balls are spherical in shape but those are flat and round like discs.
I would call them "lentil patties" in English.
Dumplings are wrapped in dough, as Skrej mentioned, which is more Chinese than Indian. They are steamed, fried or cooked in soup.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

We're back to this topic, are we?! Aamir, we have told you many times before that generally foods retain their original name even when used in English. If I went to a restaurant which served this dish, it would be listed on the menu as "Dahi Bhallay" or Dahi Vada". After the title, the restaurant owners would probably put an English description of the dish to help out those of us who might not know what it is. However, when the waiter comes to the table to take our order, we would ask for "Dahi Bhallay/Dahi Vada".

 

[Tdol]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

Dumplings are wrapped in dough, as Skrej mentioned, which is more Chinese than Indian. They are steamed, fried or cooked in soup.

Chinese or Japanese dumplings are, but dumplings can simply be balls of dough too. I like your suggestion of patties, but dumplings appears to be in use:

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/dahi-vada-recipe/

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

I think you all should try them if you have a tooth for spicy food. I have learned from many of my friends and relatives who frequently travel to the UK that English people are used to eating non-spicy food that we cannot eat at all unless we add spice to it. I don't know about the Americans. But you should give it a try once if you have an Indian and Pakistani restaurant nearby. And once you eat them then you'll know if they are forms of dumplings patties or anything else. They are worth giving a try.

And they are also eaten in Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran and Turkey and probably in Malaysia too, but they have different names because of different geographical regions where they are eaten. Dhahi Bhallay is a more commonly used name in Pakistan while some Indians call them Dahi Vaday.

Check out this wikipedia link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahi_vada

 

[Tdol]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

I have learned from many of my friends and relatives who frequently travel to the UK that English people are used to eating non-spicy food that we cannot eat at all unless we add spice to it.

They probably should try to move beyond stereotypes that don't reflect the complexities of reality.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

"What do you have that isn't completely tasteless?"

[video]http://tune.pk/video/2490313/go-for-an-english-goodness-gracious-me[/video]

 

[Tdol]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

That's possibly because you spend more time whingeing than cringing. ;-)

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

This is what I have heard from many people. According to them those who go there on longer trips they feel it very difficult to adjust themselves to the food that is available over there, they say it is highly tasteless and non-spicy and mostly English people eat boiled things without adding any spice to them at all. However, I don't know if that is true or not because I have never been there. There are many other factors besides the food being non-spicy.

Let me tell you about a very funny incident that took place a long ago when our hockey team was traveling to Europe, I don't remember exactly what country it was. It was probably Germany. They went to a restaurant they looked at the menu but didn't understand the items because they were probably listed in German. They picked up a dish randomly and ordered it. When the waiter brought it and they started eating it, they found it very delicious, so they ordered more and more and more and they kept eating. Later they found that what they were eating was a specious of frog, Upon learning this they went straight to the lavatory, put fingers down their throats and vomited because it is something that doesn't fall into the category of halal food. The story was published nationwide in our local newspapers and people made fun of them for being so ignorant.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

Aamir, do you belong to any international food forums? Whilst I find some of the things you post on this forum quite interesting from a purely cultural point of view, they are usually nothing to do with the English language once you've had the answer to "What do you call XXX in English?"

Perhaps you could limit your responses on the forum (particularly in the language-oriented sections) to aspects of the English language. I'm sure a food forum would appreciate your other, detailed comments on the food of your home country.

Edit: I notice that someone else has moved this thread to the General Language Discussions - it's fine there!

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

Aamir, do you belong to any international food forums? Whilst I find some of the things you post on this forum quite interesting from a purely cultural point of view, they are usually nothing to do with the English language once you've had the answer to "What do you call XXX in English?"

Perhaps you could limit your responses on the forum (particularly in the language-oriented sections) to aspects of the English language. I'm sure a food forum would appreciate your other, detailed comments on the food of your home country.

Edit: I notice that someone else has moved this thread to the General Language Discussions - it's fine there!

I am glad to hear from you again. No I don't belong to any international food forums at all. I am a translator and sometimes I see food items that I need to translate into English so I use this forum to help me find their alternatives. Like I found a very good alternative "gyro" for "Shwarma" on the same forum.

As far as my detailed comment on the food related incident of our hockey team is concerned, I made it after this post was moved to the general language discussion. I don't make such comments when the post is in "Ask the teachers" forum. I fully understand the nature of this forum and I am benefiting from it a lot because of all the nice and dedicated people like you around here. Thanks for your feedback, it's always nice to hear from you.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

I am glad to hear from you again. No I don't belong to any international food forums at all. I am a translator and sometimes I see food items that I need to translate into English so I use this forum to help me find their alternatives. Like I found a very good alternative "gyro" for "Shwarma" on the same forum.

A gyro (or gyros) is a Greek-style sandwich. It's similar to a shwarma, but not necessarily the same thing. We call it a gyros because that's its name in Greek.

The correct translation for shwarma is "shwarma", with an explanatory note if the target audience requires it. I can buy shwarmas at several places around Dayton, Ohio, USA, and gyros at several other places.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

A gyro (or gyros) is a Greek-style sandwich. It's similar to a shwarma, but not necessarily the same thing. We call it a gyros because that's its name in Greek.

The correct translation for shwarma is "shwarma", with an explanatory note if the target audience requires it. I can buy shwarmas at several places around Dayton, Ohio, USA, and gyros at several other places.

Do they taste the same ?

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

Do they taste the same ?

I've never gotten the pickled turnip strips on a gyros that make shwarmas so delicious. I think the yogurt sauce on shwarmas usually has a lot more garlic than the tzatziki that comes on a gyros. Tzatziki is yogurt with cucumber and garlic.

So they are similar but distinct.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

I've never gotten the pickled turnip strips on a gyros that make shwarmas so delicious. I think the yogurt sauce on shwarmas usually has a lot more garlic than the tzatziki that comes on a gyros. Tzatziki is yogurt with cucumber and garlic.

So they are similar but distinct.

It means the shawarma available in the United States is different from the one available in Pakistan and is made of different ingredients, only the name and shape are the same. We have primarily two types of shwarmas, i.e., chicken shwarma and cheese shwarma.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

It means the shawarma available in the United States is different from the one available in Pakistan and is made of different ingredients, only the name and shape are the same. We have primarily two types of shwarmas, i.e., chicken shwarma and cheese shwarma.

That's interesting. I've never seen a cheese shwarma here, only chicken, beef, and maybe lamb.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Re: Do you call them "Lentil Balls in Yogurt Sauce"? they are Dahi Bhallay in Urdu.

That's interesting. I've never seen a cheese shwarma here, only chicken, beef, and maybe lamb.

Come to Pakistan, be my guest, I will serve you with it.