rather hot day today but by the time one gets home and cooks dinner, there is no time to enjoy the sunshine. :( A day of left over bits seemed to be the best idea for dinner. But husband is not one for lazing in the sunshine. So on my quick trip to the kitchen, I spied some masoor daal being soaked. Unusual! because we already had masoor daal this week. So what was cooking? A few minutes later, I heard the whirr of the food processor and about ten minutes later, the aroma of frying. Fresh masoor daal pakoras!! Best eaten hot off the pan with a little chutney. Picture was taken by younger daughter GG as she says that my food photography skills leave a lot to be desired!

Recipe for Masoor Daal pakoras - beignets - gateaux des piments

Equipment

food processor or stone grinder

deep fat fryer or wok or karhai or pan

Ingredients

1 cup masoor daal, soaked for about one hour or more and then drained

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds

1 tsp red chiili flakes or 2 green chillies, finely chopped

1 red pepper, chopped into small dice

small piece of ginger, grated

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Method

• Grind the masoor daal in a food processor or stone grinder with a little water so that the blades / stones in the machine are able to rotate freely. The batter will be quite a sloppy mix - the mixture will not be fine like a pancake batter but more like mushy onions that are chopped up in the processor.
• Warm up the oil in a pan or wok.
• Add the rest of the ingredients to the daal mix and ensure that the onions and peppers are distributed all around. The mixture will be pink at first and then a little yellow after the addition of the turmeric powder
• When the oil gets hot, lower the temperature to medium. The oil is ready when if you drop a tiny amount of the daal mixture to the hot oil, it will rise and float after a few seconds. Now add heaped teaspoons of the daal mixture to the oil. Use two spoons - one to scoop up and the other to push the mix into the oil. You can make bigger ones too but you risk the middle not cooking well enough if they are very big. Drop at least ten heaped teaspoons in to cover the surface of the oil but make sure the pan is not overcrowded for frying.
• Fry them for about five minutes turning them frequently until the beignets are looking a golden brown in colour and have crisped up. Drain on kitchen towels.
• Repeat with the rest of the batter.
• Serve hot with a chutney of choice - mint and coriander chutney make good partners.

One could add garlic or other spices to ring the changes.

Memories do get jogged by returning to food - Mauritius!!! On an early morning trip to the market in Quatre Borne, I found some stall holders with a huge 'karhai' doing a brisk trade in 'gateaux des piments' - posh word for this very humble snack. They are sold in little paper bags in tens or twenties hot off the frying pan! Yup, street food at its best.