Beetroot Vada – Split Pea Fritters with Beetroot
Summer, actually whatever is left of it, is fast dwindling by. It has been a fast paced one, lots of stuff at the work front, not bad stuff but busy stuff. Despite my straggler approach, I stay busy with appearances here and there. I still dream of the elusive days, when I will put together weekly menu plans. Who knows, I might just surprise myself!
These beetroot vadas or fritters, are an extension of the red onion and split pea cakes, just made brighter and healthier by adding beets and beet greens to the same. This recipe is a brighter makeover of the basic vada recipe, in the Spices and Seasons Cookbook. It is such a shame that I cannot actually preserve the color of the original batter, but then again I have the same gripe when I cook ornamental vegetables, think purple kohlrabi (I have to peel the skin), red and purple beans (they tend to all become dark green) and of course, red okra, they too become dark green. Oh well…. A few appearances planned out an about farmer’s markets, in a feature I like to call Masala meets the Market, if you are in the area do stop by say hello, get a taste and of course make me really happy by picking up a cookbook. Next weekend I shall be visiting Forest Hills Greenmarket and am excited about that.
I have stalled and staggered a little with posting this recipe, and have had the weather move from seasonally cooler to somewhat warmer to full fledged dog days of summer. Well, even if you cannot try these over the weekend and again, maybe you just can after all irrespective of the weather few things can match the joy of biting into a nicely fried well seasoned vada. So, without much fuss or fanfare here is a the recipe.
A crisp and flavorful vada or split pea cake with beetroot and beet greens.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup split gram lentils (channa dal)
- 1 green chili
- 1 large about 2 inch piece peeled ginger
- 8 to 10 curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 medium sized beetroot with greens
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
- 1 medium sized red onion, peeled and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 4 tablespoons chickpea flour (besan)
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Soak the split gram lentils for 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
- Place in the bowl of a food processor with the green chili, ginger, 8 to 10 curry leaves and salt and process until fairly well pulsed. It is important to retain some texture for this recipe.
- Peel the beetroot and coarsely chop the greens and add in with turmeric and cayenne pepper and process until the beetroot is finely chopped and integrated into the mixture.
- Place in a mixing bowl and add in the red onion, cilantro and the chickpea flour and mix well.
- Add the oil in a wok and heat until fairly hot.
- Shape the mixture into small cakes or vadas, please note the mixture will be a little crumbly but binds nicely once immersed in the hot oil.
- Add a few at a time and fry until crisp and golden.
- Drain and serve with chutney.
Notes
Most of the prep time is for soaking the lentils.
Pamela
can I use a APPE pan instead of deep frying to avoid using all that oil??
rinkub@aol.com
If you cook low and slow it should work, might not be quite so crisp.