Deep Fried Lentil Balls – You can’t stop at just one!

These Lentil balls are a great starter that will keep the whole family happy, including the kids! A taste so delicious, you can‘t stop at just one!

It was on my birthday when I promised my office colleagues, ‘something Indian’. Onion Bhajji, Mushroom Bhajji was already in mind but wanted something different as well. It just came to my mind, mix these Lentils and as we were short on fresh Herbs, added the dried ones. Infact adding dried Herbs, was a better choice as it came out very light and fluffy, on the other hand adding fresh Herbs would have made the balls heavy with the water content in them. Secondly as I had nothing prepared for my 4 year old Angel, did not want to add any Chilli Powder or Pepper Powder, but if you so desire add Pepper powder. We also tried adding Turmeric Powder, as we are obsessed by adding it in almost everything we make, but I felt not adding Turmeric was a good choice, as the balls turned darker in colour. Serve them with Sweet and Chilli Mango Chutney or a simple Raita. Indeed Susan enjoyed it with Coconut Chutney or Raita will do for that matter. My daughter enjoyed eating it on it’s own.

Things You’ll Need:

To Soak Overnight:

• Urad Dal* – 1 cup
• Chana Dal** – 1 cup
• Fenugreek Seeds – 1 tsp
• Soaked Drained Weight – about 850 grams

To Grind:

• Ginger-Garlic Paste – 3 tbsp
• Dried Fenugreek Leaves – 2 tbsp
• Dried Mint – 1 tsp
• Onion – 1 Large
• Salt – to taste
• Water – 250 ml

Oil – to deep fry

Golden Touch Misc-en-Place:

1. Soak the Lentils with Fenugreek overnight.
2. Grind to a smooth paste with all the ingredients under ‘To Grind‘, alongwith the soaked ingredients.

Golden Touch Preparation:

1. Heat Oil on high heat***.
2. Carefully add small amounts of the Lentil balls to the hot oil and deep-fry until golden brown on all sides. Remove using a slotted spoon and spread on a tissue as this enables absorption of extra Oil.

NOTES:

The Oil temperature should be medium heat at all times. If it is too hot, the balls will get a darker colour and will not get fried inside. If the temperature is too low, the balls absorb lot of Oil and become soggy.

To test the temperature of the Oil, drop a small bit of the dough into the Oil. If the balls gets fried within 10 seconds the Oil is too hot. If it takes about a 30-40 seconds to get fried, the temperature is just what we want.

*Urad Dal – also known as – skinned and split white Lentils, Urid,

**Chana Dal also known as Gram Dal, skinned split Chickpeas.