Green Gram Fritters (Ram Ladoo)
As a child I used to look forward to going to Lajpat Nagar with my mother because after an entire day of shopping in the market, I would get to have my favourite snack – Moong Dal Ram Ladoos coming straight out of the hot kadhai, served with spicy green chutney, sweet and savoury imli chutney topped with crunchy shredded Mooli (radish). All the flavours together complemented each other very well.
It is still in my list of favourites and remains the highlight of my visits to that part of the city. But I am not the only one. Go to any food stall selling these and I can guarantee a crowd of people enjoying this delicious snack.
Traditionally these are deep fried and unfortunately all the nutritional benefits are lost during frying. As always, I did not want to give up my all-time favourite snack for health and came up with a recipe that gives you the same authentic taste but with a healthy twist. The fritters are made up of soaked and ground green moong dal along with loads of spices and then cooked in a paniyaram/appe pan. The best time to enjoy Ram Ladoos is during the rainy season or on a winter evening along with a cup of hot tea or coffee.
- Times
- Description
- Image
- Ingredients
- Method
- Notes
- Nutrition
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Ingredients
- 2 cup split or whole green moong dal (lentil)
- 3-4 green chillies, chopped
- 2” ginger, finely chopped
- ½ cup coriander leaves, finely chopped
- ½ cup spinach [optional], finely chopped
- 4-5 tbsp oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- Salt to taste
Spices
- 2 tbsp roasted jeera powder (cumin powder)
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1 tsp saunf (fennel seeds), crushed [optional]
- Generous pinch of hing (asafoetida) [do not add for gluten free version]
Method
- 1)
Wash and soak the dals for about 4-5 hours.
- 2)
Strain the dal and blend it in a blender. Keep the mixture a bit coarse. While blending, don’t add much water, try to keep it as minimum as possible (around 1-2 tbsp).
- 3)
Transfer the batter into a mixing bowl and add green chillies, ginger, coriander, spinach, onion and all the spices.
- 4)
Mix it vigorously to make the batter fluffy.
- 5)
Heat the paniyaram/appe pan on medium heat and brush each cavity with oil.
- 6)
Now pour the batter in each of the cavities and flip it when the bottom side is brown.
- 7)
Keep on flipping until it gets golden brown from all the sides.
- 8)
After removing from the pan, let the fritters rest on a mesh to keep them crispy while they cool a little bit.
- 9)
The crispy and crunchy fritters are ready to serve along with chutney and crunchy radish. Enjoy the fritters which have a crispy texture outside and are soft from the inside. You will love every bit of this tasty and healthy snack!
Notes
Skinned lentils can also be used but I prefer to use lentils with skin for their nutritional benefits.
While grinding, make sure to not add too much water otherwise the batter will be too runny and it will be difficult for the fritters to hold their shape.
You can serve the Ram Ladoos in two ways – top them with chutneys and radish or serve the chutneys and radish on the side and dip the ladoos. Either ways, it will be delicious!
