Fried Lentil Cake Curry
- Ready In:
- 1hr 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 20
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
-
LENTIL CAKE
- 5 ounces channa dal, washed
- 4 cups water, for soaking
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1⁄2 inch piece gingerroot, grated
- 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
- 2 green chilies
- 1⁄2 cup water
-
CURRY SAUCE
- 3⁄4 cup oil
- 3 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin seed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 1⁄2 cups water
- 1⁄2 teaspoon garam masala (to garnish)
directions
- TO MAKE THE LENTIL CAKES: Soak the dal overnight in 4 cups of water, then drain off the water.
- Mix the drained dal with remaining lentil cake ingredients and whiz them in a blender until you have a smooth creamy paste (add a little extra water to achieve this consistency if necessary).
- Heat just over half of the oil (from the curry sauce list of ingredients) in a large frying pan (or karai); fry the lentil mixture over a medium heat until it leaves the side of the pan and a ball forms (sounds strange, but you’ll know it when you see it).
- Spread the lentil mix onto a greased plate, to a depth of ½ inch; leave this to cool and set.
- When set, cut the dal into 1 inch squares; then heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat and fry the dal squares a few at a time, until golden brown; set aside.
- CURRY SAUCE: Fry the potatoes in a large lidded frying pan until lightly browned; set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium and in the same pan add the cumin seeds and bay leaves, let them sizzle for a few seconds; add the turmeric, chilli, coriander, salt and tomatoes and fry for two minutes; add water and bring to the boil.
- Add the potatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes then add the fried dal squares; cover again and cook until the potatoes are tender (approximately 5-10 minutes).
- Add the ghee, if using, and sprinkle on the garam masala; remove from heat and serve hot.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Mrs B
Worcester Park, Surrey
I live with my husband and 2 cats in Worcester Park; a quiet typical 1930s suburb (which no one has ever heard of!) about 12 miles South West of London.
I'm a fair weather gardener and as my husband is a vegetarian I grow a few easy vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers, mainly in containers. My husband loves growing flowers, the brighter the better, and we have a pretty garden as a result. Our cats, Araminta and Purrl, like it too!
I do a lot of cooking and try to keep our diet as healthy and varied as possible. Although I work full time, I use very little in the way of pre-prepared foods. This is partly because of the limited choice of vegetarian meals, which I think are overpriced anyway; but mainly because I like to know what goes in my food!
I love using the Internet for all the great ideas it gives me. Last year I participated in the Zaar World Tour (under my previous public name Caroline Blakey), which was great. Mr B and I tried lots of new foods and discovered new favourite meals. Researching recipes for the Tour was really interesting, however as I didn't have time to try them all, some were posted untested. I'm still working my way very slowly through them. To make matters worse I keep seeing other recipes I want to save and have also participated in Zaar world Tour II. So many recipes, so little time to make them!
<img src="http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/kzbhansen/Banners/Animation3.gif">
My 'rules' for posting recipes are a) if I wouldn't make a particular recipe, I won't post it and b) if my husband wouldn't eat it, I won't post it. This means that all my recipes are vegetarian friendly.
As you will see from the number of recipes saved in my cookbooks, I particularly enjoy making jams and chutneys; I'd say it was one of my favourite hobbies. We always have a good supply of home preserves; my friends and work colleagues are well supplied too.
If we won the lottery (say £5m, as a good number) we'd like to give up work, move to the country and buy a place with a bit of land. In my dreams this would be a manor house or old vicarage, with a walled garden, an orchard where I could keep hens, a vegetable garden, etc, etc, etc! In my more realistic moments (the £1m win perhaps) I would like to run a B&B, perhaps offering Vegetarian taster weekends. Luckily it costs nothing to dream.......I’d also love more time to read, do embroidery, learn a language, see more of the countryside; and of course play on Zaar.