Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Dangara A Lentil Fritter with Radish Leaves.


Tender Radish Leaves (Moolangi Palleche') Dangara / Ambado / Fritters / Starter ......


Dangara is a name given by GSB / Konkani Sarawath’s to vada’s or fritters. These are made with a combination of rice and lentil adding fresh leafy vegetables of the season. You can prepare these with any edible leaves available at your vicinity. The most famous danagar of all is one’s prepared using Taikilo a leaf that are green in colour and small in size. They are called Takla in marathi. These are seasonal and are available largely in coastal areas. The same can be prepared with tender radish leaves, methi leaves or tamarind leaves. I make this most of the time with radish leaves as these are readily available in my locality. Though, taikilo is also available, I find it rarely at my place. There is no much of a difference in taste. 


Again the lentil used along with Rice here is Tuvar Dal most of the time. I have already posted radish leaves dangar prepared using rice and tuvar dal before. However, now I have prepared the dangars using chana dal (Bengal gram dal) along with rice. You can go ahead and prepare the same with either tuvar dal or chana dal adding any leafy vegetable available at your place. This dish is a good accompaniment to Dal-chawal-bhaji. We GSB’s ususally serve this during lunch or dinner time along with Dal-chawal and other items. But then you can serve it as a snack with chutney or tomato ketchup too. Just make them and enjoy these dangars the way it pleases your taste buds. 


Ingredients:
1 cup of ordinary rice.
1 cup of chana dal or tuvar dal.
3-4 cups of finely chopped tender radish leaves.
½ cup of freshly grated coconut.
6-8 dry red chillies.
A small marble sized tamarind.
1 tsp of hing powder.
Salt to taste. 
2 tblsp of besan (bengal gram flour) if needed only.. 


Wash and soak rice and chana dal together with plenty of water in a vessel for 2 hours. Wash well and drain and keep this ready aside. You can use tuvar dal too in the same proportion as usually tuvar dal is used for this recipe. Wash and chop radish leaves finely. Keep this ready aside. 


In a mixer grinder add in the red chillies, coconut and tamarind along with hing powder and grind to a coarse texture. Do not add any water. Now add in the drained rice+chana dal mixture and grind further to a coarse powder. Do not add water. You can sprinkle some water if you find it absolutely necessary. I use food processor grinder for such coase grinding where we have to grind them without water. I find that very useful in dry grinding. You can follow any method you prefer. Remove and put the ground mixture in a flat bowl. Now add in the finely chopped radish leaves to the bowl. Squeeze out any water if any before adding. Add salt to taste and mix well. The prepared mixture should be very dry, but should come to binding of a ball consistency. If you find it breaking up add the besan a little bit at a time and mix well. Check seasoning. You can add in some salt or chilly powder, if you find it too bland or want it spicier. Mix well, take a large tablespoon full of mixture in hand and roll it form a ball, flatten it a bit. Prepare similar dangars with the remaining mixture. 


Add sufficient oil for deep frying in a thick bottomed kadai. Put it on high heat to bring it to full heat / smoking point. Reduce the heat to medium and wait for 5 minutes. Check the temperature by adding a little bit of mixture in the hot oil carefully. If the mixture comes up within a few secconds, it means the oil is hot and ready for frying. Now add in the prepared dangars, one at a time carefully. Do not overcrowd the kadai, there should be enough space left for the dangars to get deep fried properly. Let it fry for 4-5 minutes. Now overturn and mix properly with a deep frying ringed spatulla. Keep rolling often to fry them evenly. Once they are fried to golden brown remove and keep in an absorbent tissue paper for the excess oil to drain off. Continue with the remaining mixture. Serve these dangars hot with Rice – Dalitoy and some side dish curries. This is an excellent combination to be prepared when you have guests for lunch / dinner. 


** For the Dangar Recipe adding Rice and Tuvar Dal, Please follow the link given below ...

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