Garelu

Ingredients:

Urad dal (Minapappu) - 1 cup

Onion (large) - 1

Green chillies - 4

Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp

Curry leaves - 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Salt - as per taste

Oil - sufficient to deep fry

Procedure:

1. Wash and soak urad dal overnight.
2. Wash and finely chop onion, green chillies & coriander.
3. Next day, drain all the water and grind the urad dal with very little water (usually it may take 25-30 ml) in mixer or wet grinder.
4. Grind the urad dal in to smooth paste. The prepared batter should be soft and fluffy.
5. Add salt, cumin seeds, chopped onion, green chillies, curry leaves , coriander leaves and mix well.
6. Take a large kadai, add oil and heat it.
7. Now take a plastic paper or banana leaf, place little batter on it and press with your fingers to form a disk. Put a hole at the center of disk with your finger and drop it slowly in to heated oil.
8. Follow the same procedure to make remaining garelu.
9. Roast them in oil until they turn to golden yellow.

TIP: The most important step in making this recipe is preparation of batter. Do not add water at the same time to grind. Add little by little in different parts. The batter should be tight, soft and fluffy. After adding salt, the batter will turn little bit loose, so it is advisable to to add little water during grinding. Be sure that the entire process of frying is done in medium flame only. High flame may result in immediate color change externally, but the batter inside remains uncooked.