Piyaju / lentil fritters
Ingredients:
Musoor ( red lentil) daal 1/4 th cup
Moong ( yellow lentil ) a little less than 1/4 th cup
Grated ginger 1 teaspoon
Grated potato half of a small-medium potato
Chopped Mint ( you may use chopped cilantro too or both , but I wanted only mint flavor , so didn’t add any cilantro)
Chopped onion
Chopped green chili
Salt to taste
My mom used to take kheshari daal to make the piyaju crispier . But here in New York , I never had any access to kheshari daal !! Got a very useful tip from Khalamoni Suronjona Maya , that split yellow gram or chaana daal makes the piyaju crisper . Applied it and it worked even better . So Please add little channa daal to this daal mixture too .
Procedure:
1. Soak the lentil for at least half n hour in warm water . I didn’t have much time so i soaked only 20 minutes . đ . Usually minimum 1 hour soaking is required , but if you have rush , you can do my way , soak them in WARM WATER!!!!!!!!!
2. Drain out the water and blend it in a coffee grinder without adding any water . I use my magic bullet , but if you don’t have magic bullet do it in a coffee grinder . Don’t blend it smooth . It should be half blended.
3. Add all other ingredients with it and keep it in the deep fridge while you heat the oil for frying .
4. Heat the oil and make round flat ball with the lentil mixture , put them in the hot oil and deep fry on medium low heat . Don’t try to turn over until they got brown otherwise the piyaju may fall apart!!!!! It may take 5 minutes to get that brown texture .
Enjoy!!!!!!
Tips:
1. Many blend the daal smooth and add water , don’t do this . You will not have the crunchy effect if you blend it smooth.
2. Don’t add any flour , rice flour besan/ Gram flour in the mixture , It will make your piyaju tight ,hard and taste bitter!!!!
3. Don’t try to turn over soon while frying . Let them be firm in oil until they got that reddish brown color !!!!!!!!!!
For the improved version , please click the link below
https://khadizaskitchen.com/2014/06/27/crunchy-piyaju-lentil-fritters/
Khadiza's Kitchen 