Dali Bora (Lentil Fritters)
 
 
Author:
Serves: 40 - 50 Boras
Ingredients
  • 1.5 cups of red split lentils (soaked for at least 2 - 3 hours)
  • 2 medium onions
  • water (if needed to aid blending)
  • 4 green chillies (more if you want it spicy)
  • ⅓ of a bunch of coriander
  • 1 - 1.5 tsp salt (or to your taste)
  • oil for frying
Method
  1. Soak 1.5 cups of lentils in water for at least 2 - 3 hours prior to use, they should expand in size before you proceed to blend them. Once they have expanded, wash them well till the water runs clear and leave in cold water.
  2. Finely slice 2 onions and ⅓ of a bunch of coriander. When you slice the green chillies make sure you slice them into discs and then mince them with the knife till they look like the bottom right photo. I do this as it distributes the heat (chilli) evenly and means no one bites into a piece of spicy green chilli.
  3. Drain the excess water from the lentils and blend in a blender/food processor till smooth. Only add water while blending if you need to, adding excess water isn't a good idea as this makes the resulting batter very loose and prone to splitting in the hot oil. If you like a rougher crunchier texture, don't blend the lentils too fine.
  4. Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add salt; I eye balled the amount here (I'd say 1 - 1.5 tsp), so add salt to your taste.
  5. Mix the ingredients together and leave for at least 20 - 30 minutes before frying, this allows the onions to release water (from the addition of salt) and the flavours to fuse together. The bottom left photo shows you the water that was released from my batch after sitting for several hours, carefully drain this excess water away. If you don't intend to use all of your lentil batter you may freeze half of it in a food container and defrost when you need to; it's best to leave it defrosting the night before you intend to use it.
  6. When you're ready to fry, heat a large pan/wok with oil. Using fresh oil results in crispy tasty Dali Bora!
  7. Prepare a colander with some kitchen towel to drain your Dali Bora on before you start! Using a colander as opposed to a bowl means the cooked Dali Bora remain crispy whilst several batches fry together before being served, I find when they're placed in a bowl the steam causes them to become soft.
  8. Carefully drop about 1 tsp of the Dali Bora mixture at a time into the oil and deep fry (use your hands or a spoon, I prefer using my hands). Fry them over a medium heat so that the inside cooks through till they are a golden brown colour on the outside. Transfer the cooked Boras onto some kitchen paper once cooked. I know some people will mould their Dali Bora into round balls or create a uniform shape, I much prefer randomness when it comes to cooking these; the random shapes get very crispy especially those bits of onion that just stick out!
  9. Enjoy your Dali Bora with a bowl of sweet chilli sauce, ketchup or just as! These are perfect for Iftar during Ramadan, when entertaining guests or as a general snack.
Recipe by www.afeliaskitchen.com at https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/dali-bora-lentil-fritters/