Black-eye beans fritters (Lobia ke pakore)

This Thursday found me with just a bit too many black eyed beans (lobia) on my shelf.And I was in a mood to cook.

My mom-in-law had made these once, long back. I wish I had asked her for the recipe. But you know how it is. You just assume moms will be around forever making all your favorite dishes.

So figured I will try to make up the taste, my favorite way of cooking.

Ingredients

3 c      black-eyed beans (lobia) soaked overnight
1/2      onion (optional)
1 inch  ginger
1-2      chillies
fistfull   fresh coriander leaves
1/2 tsp haldi
1 tsp    lemon juice
1 tsp    coarsely ground coriander seeds
           salt, red pepper to taste
           oil to fry

Grate the ginger fine. Coarse chop onions (if using). Chop corriander. Mix these with the beans.

Place the beans with ginger-onion-corriander in the food processor, one cup at a time, and grind them until coarse. You may have to add a few teaspoons of water to get it going. It doesn't have to be well done, its okay to have a couple of whole beans and a fairly coarse texture.

Now, when you are ready to fry, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust salt, pepper, lemon to your taste. The final mix is not too sticky, neither is it soupy.

Now, deep frying is the way to go with these fritters. Just drop spoonfuls into a well heated oil in a wok and fry till golden.

But, I don't enjoy fried stuff much, so I just decided to pan fry. Take enough oil to coat the pan generously, and when it is hot, drop spoonfuls of the mix into the pan. Let it cook for a couple of minutes, and flip them over. Another minute or two, and get them out.

With beans and all the fresh ingredients, they taste fairly delicious. So enjoy.