Dalvada Lentil Fritters, a specialty of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is a highly nutritious, quick and easy snack that can be easily had in a place of a meal! You will find lots of people feasting on this as they are so delicious. I had been exposed to this delicacy during my childhood days, eating the then famous dalwadas at Natraj Cinema during my college days at HL College. The snack is served with fried green chillies as accompaniment and is a popular street food of Gujarat, like the Vada Pav in Maharashtra.
This snack was made popular by the street vendors and made more famous by one vendor, Shri Ambika Dalvada. In one of the interviews with the owner, it turns out he is originally from Rajasthan, and it is no wonder that a successful dish based on lentils would be coming from Rajasthani. As Rajasthan is known for Dal Bati, Moong Chilla etc. These Dalvada will also be appreciated by people who like Pesarattu, as it contains the same Split Green Gram Lentils as in the Moong Chilla or Pesarattu.
The addition of blackeyed peas (Chora Dal or Lobia Dal) gives it the extra crunch in the Dalwada. Split green lentil is already very high in protein and assists in lowering glycemic index. Black eyed peas or chora/lobia dal is very high in phosphorous and magnesium along with high folate content. So together this is a great combination. The added spice of green chillies, ginger, garlic mix gives it a great flavoring.
What is interesting to know is that in southern food in USA, cowpeas(blackened peas) are known to bring good luck and so southerners insist on having them on the first day of the year, to bring them good luck. So why not have some luck coming your way on the upcoming Super Bowl weekend?!!
Hope your team wins as you munch on the Dalvada Lentil Fritters, while watching the Super Bowl and also debating on which one was the most creative commercial of all! Have a great Super Bowl weekend!
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 15 minutes |
| Passive Time | 3 hours |
| Servings |
pieces
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- 1 cups Green Lentil Split with skin Green Gram
- 1/2 cup Blackeyed Peas Chora Dal or Lobia Dal
- 1 pod Garlic )ptional
- 4 Hot Green Chillies
- 1 1/2 tbsp Coriander Leaves Chopped
- 1/2 inch Ginger
- Salt to taste
- Green Chutney Accompaniment
- Black Salt and Chat Masala Garnish
Ingredients
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|
- Mix the lentils and wash them thrice. Soak them in 5 cups of water for at least 3 hours
- Make a paste of chillies, ginger, garlic by crushing them in a mortar pestle.
- Keep very little water in the lentils and grind the lentils coarsely. Add the ginger paste to it and grind further. Add fresh coriander to the blended lentils.
- Add salt for taste, and add some water if needed to arrive at a dropping consistency.
- Heat the oil to smoking point and lower the flame to medium low
- Drop the dalwada fritters using your fingers or an ice cream scoop. The finger method works better tor me.
- Fry on a medium low flame till golden in color on both sides, rotating as needed.
- Sprinkle some chat masala and black salt powder on top and serve hot with green chutney.
Tips
Grinding consistency is important to crunchiness and so is the water level in the mix. If the mix is too watery, it will not drop well.Starting with less water will always be easy as we can add more with required.
More commonly people now use, only yellow split moong dal, so you can try that recipe too. But the dal with the skin is more fibrous and nutritious than the yellow moong dal
Instinct Factor
It will have more flavor if green chillies are chopped and added to the mix along with coriander leaves. Since I was having kids as guests too, I decided to make a paste of it. Addition of Chat masala and Sanchal or black salt powder was purely instinct driven!
Feel Factor
Enjoying the delicacy from my distant past,! Memories unfolded as I recalled all the carefree days of my college time.Truly a nutritious snack that I plan to make more, as the weather is still cold enough to enjoy warm snacks with a cup of tea and munching a handful while entertaining guests and having easy conversations. I would like to extend my gratitude to another friend at whose place I discovered the addition of blackeyed peas to dalwada, while enjoying Hindi Kavita and discussing literature with like minded folks! The best part of the Dalvada Lentil Fritters was the crunch in it, that promised to remain so even after they were cold.
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