Moong Dal Ladoo/pakora, a very popular street food of Delhi, served with grated radish & chutneys is an amazing dish to have especially on rainy days or winter evenings 🙂
Delhi is synonymous to street food for me. Though most of the street food has made its way to Bangalore now, there are few things I still miss. The kulcha chola (actually dried peas curry) sold in the side of the road in huge copper vessels in the evenings and moong dal ladoo served in the afternoon along with grated radish and the green and red signature chaat chutneys.
There is a guy in Lajpat Nagar close to Central Market in Delhi who makes the best moong dal ladoos. No trip to the market would ever be complete without eating a plate (or two) of these ladoos from him.
Moong Dal ladoos are made by soaking & grinding the yellow moong dal with a handful of spices. The batter is then deep fried and served with grated radish for the crunch. Now since I don’t get it on the road side, I make it at home now and then 🙂
And trust me, these are so amazing that you just can’t resist them! But then, I say that about most street food. I love street food of all kinds. Whether it is the pav bhaji you get in Mumbai, or the amazing Kheema pav or the matar kulcha of Delhi! Sigh, I could just live on street food forever, to be honest 🙂
A great way to experience the different cuisines of India is to definitely give a shot at the street food. As long as the food is cooked and hot, I am sure it will not do any harm to you 🙂 And if you make it at home, even better! You just don’t have to worry about it being street food and all that! So go on and make this delicious moong dal ladoo today 🙂
Moong Dal Ladoo/Pakodi
Ingredients
- 1 cup moong dal Yellow
- 2 chilly Green
- to taste salt
- 2 cups water
For dry roasting
- 1/2 tsp ajwain
- 1/4 tsp heeng
- 1/2 tsp Saunf Fennel Seeds
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp kashmiri chili powder
- 1 tsp Dhaniya seeds
For serving
- 2 radish Grated
- to taste green chutney
- to taste chutney Saunth / Meethi
Instructions
- Wash and soak the yellow moong dal for 5 hours or overnight. Next morning, rinse in cold water twice and grind to a coarse paste along with green chillies and water. It needs to be a thick batter and will use approximately about 2 cups of water. Keep aside for 15-20 minutes
- In a heavy bottom kadhai, on low heat dry roast the spices for 2 minutes till they start turning fragrant. Keep aside for cooling. Once cool, roughly grind them using a mortar pestle. We need the spices pretty coarse.
- Add the spices to the ground moong dal and mix well.
- Heat oil in a pan till medium hot. Take small balls of the batter in your hand and drop carefully in the hot oil. You can also use a spoon to do the same. There is no need to worry about all of them being the perfect shape or size. Fry on medium heat till they golden brown in color.
- For serving, top with grated radish, green chutney, sweet chutney and a sprinkle of chaat masala. Enjoy with evening tea or a beer. This does make an interesting cocktail snack as well.
Notes
Kitchen Basics : Saunth or Imli ki chutney
www.sinamontales.com
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