Pearls of Wisdom with Mangaudi (Lentil Pakoras)

Bank holiday is a term I have come to appreciate in UK. It brings constancy in life. You know the days you are going to have off...same time every year. Holidays in india vary by region, employer and of course, religion. There is a concept of restricted holidays allowed to govt employees. They can decide to take the days off during durga puja rather than guru nanak jayanti. As the year starts I start thinking about the four blocks of holidays. The easter, May , Spring and the august bank holiday. Chirstmas is not counted as it is generally reserved for India visits. For these four, each must be utilized. If there is even a distinct possibility of spending any of these at home, I throw tantrums, call up old promises, threaten with future restrictions..and in the way do anything but stay at home. A look back at the bank holidays over the past four years is a list of our trips. This year it was lake district. The beautiful lush green cumbrian countryside was a pleasure to our senses. We braved the drizzle for bext part of the holiday. We were blessed with one day of beautiful weather.

We stayed at a lovely cottage with nothing but the nature surrounding us. The sheep outnumber humans in the gently sloping landscape. We took lovely scenic drives around passes.

I had a choice of cumbrian sausage to satisfy me over three days, while others over won over by the scones with cream and strawberry.

Back home I had to come to terms with the fact that the next day off is three months away.It was time for comfort food. It was time to go back to kitchen. Strangely enough I did not feel like cooking something good. I decided to deep fry something. In fact I wanted to indulge so badly that I poured oil into the wok before I decided what to fry. A bowl of green moong daal was soaking on the windowsill. They were part of my ever failing effort to try and eat healthy. It was part of the pearls of wisdom a friend of mine shared with me. I was supposed to drain them and let them grow long tails or in other words let them sprout. They were supposed to be my snacks for the 3-5 pm time in office when I feel hungry and naughty enough to eat a whole bar of chocolate. That was what was intended for them. What happened is an entirely different story. It is the process by which I managed to convert a bowlful for wonderful healthy legumes into a plateful of deep fired oily indulgence. I submit no apology for it. My soul needed it.

Ingredients

1 cup whole greem moong daal – soaked overnight

Ground into a grainy paste with water

½ of medium size onion, sliced lengthwise

½ tsp ginger paste

½ tsp garlic paste

½ tsp chat masala

1 green chilli finely chopped

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp gram flour (besan)

Oil to fry While the oil heats up, I quickly put the soaked moong daal through the rigors of the food processor. After a matter of 5 mins I had lovely grainy paste. Do not make a smooth paste, the mangaudi loses the texture if it is too smooth. Add the onions, paste and powder mentioned above to this. You can add chilli powder if you do not want the heat of green chillies.Add the gram flour bit by bit so that the mixture binds together. With a small spoon scoop up little morsels and drop them into the oil. It would sputter and rage about for a few minutes before accepting the fate as a pakora. One reason to keep the individual mangaudis small is to allow them to cook properly during the frying process. And it makes wonderful portion size as well.

I had never tasted mangaudi, till in one week, I was introduced to it by two different sources. And I loved it. How can you not love a spicy deep fried pakora. How very enticing it looks with the golden crisp cover and how very lovely is the crunch of the friend lentils and the onions.

I skipped dinner...in my enthusiasm I had made more than I could eat.

The wok of oil is still there. If my chain of thoughts is anything to go by...I might be putting up recipes which need frying.