Daler Bora/Red Lentil Fritters...quick and Hassle Free

Daler Bora…Red Lentil fritters…our evening snack yesterday…traditionally deep fried...however my friend ‘Na’ had once told me that she made vadas and pakoras in Paniyaram pan/ Appapatram as known in India or the Dutch Poffertjes Pan/ Danish Æbleskive pan as known elsewhere…so I had promptly gone ahead and bought one...bought the one with non stick coating as the cast iron one was not available and I had to had to buy it right there and then!!!...have been using it ever since to replace some of the deep frying cooking and it works like a charm…not as crisp as deep frying but avoids all the hassle of deep frying…made 11 with 1 tsp oil…the only thing you need to take care of is to cook at low flame
Daler Bora/Red Lentil fritters

Ingredients:

• Dhuli Masoor Dal/ Red Lentils, ½ cup
• Fresh Ginger, 1” piece
• Green chilies, 3-4 or to taste
• Salt, to taste
• Onion, finely chopped, 1
• Coriander leaves, chopped, a handful
• Oil, according to your cooking method of choice

Instructions:

Wash the dal till water runs clear. Soak in water for about an hour.
Take the soaked dal (now puffed up after soaking) and grind it into a paste in the grinder/blender with ginger, salt and half of the green chilies. Try not to use water while grinding – it needs to be thick paste with slightly coarse texture.
Empty out the jar into a bowl. Mix in the chopped onions, coriander leaves and remaining green chilies. Lightly whisk the dal paste with a fork for 5-10 minutes.
Heat the pan on low heat and add a spoonful of the paste into each indent. Once the boras start pulling away from the side, add a few drops of oil on the sides of each one. Once one side is crisp golden brown and top is set, turn the other side and cook till the other side is also crisp brown.
Serve hot with meal or as snacks.
Note: You can use Chana dal/Split Bengal gram also to make this or a mix of both the dals...the soaking time will increase to a  minimum 4-5 hours if using chana dal
P.S. does the photograph remind you of another post?? It is meant to J