Moong Dal Fritters

Pilgrimage and temple visits are not only associated with Diety, but with food too. Outside every Indian temple you, would find few local vendors selling fresh flowers, sweet, and coconut, that could be bought and offered to the Deity! Once the offering is done, those colorful flowers adorn the house spreading their fragrance. Sweets and coconut are relished by family and neighbors in the form of Prashad. Each temple also has a unique and delicious sweet offering which cannot be replicated in the home kitchen. Not just for offerings, most temples have an eatery or a booth close by to picnic with the family.

On the coast of Mumbai, where the Arabian Sea smashes against giant rocks, is situated the most famous and enormous temple of Goddess Mahalaxmi.  Yes, She is the Goddess of Wealth. After our worship, we would stop by at an adjacent joint where they would prepare delicious, crisp, dal wadas/fritters. A plate full of these little bite size fritters with sweet and tangy chutney is all gone in a minute. You cannot experience the feeling of biting those while gazing at the beautiful waves of the sea without being there, but you could surely experience the crisp fritters and rain while standing in your balcony.

Broken moong seeds or green moong dal.

Rich in protein and fiber.

Soak 1 cup of moong dal in 2 1/2 cups of water for 5-6 hours.

Remove excess water. You will notice mooog dal has doubled in size.

In a food processor, coarsely grind soaked moong dal with ginger and green chillies.
(Just like making falafel balls)

Mix it well for even grinding, so that you are not left with coarse dal on the sides of the container.

Remove in a bowl. Add salt, coasely ground coriander seeds, coarsely ground pepper corns, asoefotida, and turmeric. Mix well.

You just want to break open coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or pressing them with a rolling pin.

Take a tsp. of mixture using your fingers and carefully drop them in hot oil to form irregularly shaped fritters, and deep fry till they get golden brown and crisp.

Crunchy, irregularly shaped fritters.

Serve with Date and Tamarind chutney

Another Rainy Day favorite!