Daal fritters, mostly made of lentils can be found at almost all the street food vendors in Bangladesh. They are wonderfully tasty snack that goes great with a hot cup of tea or coffee. They are very popular and inexpensive snack that are quite addictive. You can make these as an afternoon snack for yourself or share with your family and friends at your next gathering.

Although traditionally they are made with lentils and onions, I decided to give them a make over. Here is my take on this popular snack. These lovely fritters are called Daal-er Bora in Bengali.

Daal-er Bora / Pulse (Bean) Fritter

Ingredients:

1 cup Daal (Lentil, split chickpea or any other similar pulse)
2 cup shredded cabbage
1 tsp garlic paste (optional)
1 cup sliced onions
½ tsp cumin ground
½ tsp coriander ground
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp paprika or red chili powder
1 green chili (optional)
1 cup shredded green leafy vegetables like spinach (optional)
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Soak the daal of your choice in water until they are soft. This can take at least 2-3 hours or more. Once they are soft, wash and drain all water. Place the daal in a food processor along with the green chili and make a paste.

In a bowl, combine the paste with all other ingredients except oil.

Heat oil in a frying pan and shallow fry the mixture in small flat shapes, in medium heat. Once both sides are golden brown take it off the frying pan and place on a paper towel to remove any excess oil. The fritters should be crispy on the outside and cooked thoroughly on the inside. If they are not cooked inside then, your heat is too high.

Serve warm as a snack.

Notes:

• The daal paste should be thick, if you find that it is runny or not thick enough, add some besan (Bengal Gram Flour), corn meal, all purpose flour, corn starch or semolina to make it a thick paste.
• If you want to make the traditional fritters, replace the amount of shredded cabbage with equal amount of sliced onions.
• The green leafy vegetables makes it more crispy and also a little colour.
• If you don’t want to make it hot but want to use green chili, remove the seeds before adding it to the food processor. You can also use jalapeno pepper instead of green chili that is used in South Asia.