Chana Dal Tikki

Ingredients

• 1 cup split Bengal gram, soaked for 2 hours
• Oil for shallow frying
• 10-12 curry leaves
• 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
• 1 inch ginger, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup scraped fresh coconut 
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons coarse gram flour
• Fresh mint sprig for garnish 

Method

1. Put split Bengal gram, curry leaves, green chillies and ginger in a mixer jar and grind coarsely. Add coconut and onions (reserving some) and salt and grind again to a coarse paste.
2. Heat sufficient oil in a non-stick pan.
3. Transfer the ground mixture into a bowl, add reserved onions and gram flour and mix well. Shape the mixture into equal sized balls and flatten them slightly to make tikkis.
4. Place the tikkis in the pan and shallow-fry on medium heat, turning sides, till evenly golden and crisp on both sides. Drain on absorbent paper.
5. Arrange them on a serving plate, garnish with a fresh mint sprit and serve hot.