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Mung Dal Fritters – Baked Moong Dal Pakoda. Petite yellow lentils (split and skinned mung beans) soaked and blended to a batter to make pakoda/Bhajji with onions and greens. Use red lentils or chickpea flour for variation. Vegan Gluten-free Recipe
These easy fritters use moong dal / Mung dal which are split and skinned green moong beans. Moong Dal is often used to make dishes where chickpea flour is used, such as pancakes, fritters /pakora etc. Moong Dal is often called petite yellow lentils in grocery stores like whole foods. See Dal names and photos here. Mung Dal makes soft nutty fritters. Add just onions and greens or add shredded veggies of choice to this versatile batter. You can use red lentils (split red lentils) to make these fritters as well. Red lentil batter does not hold its shape as well.
There are many kinds of pakoda/ pakora/bhajji/fritters in Indian cuisine. Some use besan(gram flour), chickpea flour, other bean or pea flour, some others use soaked moong dal or urad dal to make the batter. Some are simple spiced with cumin, mustard or carom seeds, some use have a tempering with curry leaves, and some others use spice blends. Most are deep fried.
Make these moong dal pakoda for a change from chickpea flour fritters. Serve with Mint Cilantro Chutney or other chutneys of choice or with Kadhi (spiced yogurt sauce). You can also use the batter to make thin pancakes like chickpea flour pancakes and serve for snack or breakfast. Let me know in the comments how they turned out!
More Indian Snacks from the blog
- Baked Masala Vada with split peas and lentils. GF
- Baked Popcorn Okra
- Samosa Pinwheels.
- Baked Mung Dal Samosas
- Baked potato rice crackers – gluten-free
- Baked Maida Papdi – Cumin seed Crackers
Crunchy on the outside and soft inside.
Mung Dal Fritters - Baked Moong Dal Pakoda
Ingredients
- 1 cup moong dal, petite yellow lentils
- 1 inch knob of ginger
- 1 hot green chili , or cayenne to taste 1/4 tsp
- 1/2 to 1 tsp garam masala, or curry powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 3/4 to 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/3 cup or more water
- 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro, loosely packed
- 1 1/2 cup lightly packed finely chopped spinach , or rainbow chard loosely packed
- 3/4 cup finely chopped red onion, heaped
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
Instructions
- Soak the Mung dal in hot water for 15 minutes or 1 hour. Longer works best. Drain and add to blender. Add ginger, chili, garam masala, turmeric, salt, baking powder, oil and 1/4 cup water. Blend to a smooth thick batter. Add more water if needed. Keep the batter thick so it can hold its shape while baking. Thinner batter tends to flatten.
- Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220ºc.
- Add the chopped cilantro, greens, onion and garlic and fold in. Using a Tablespoon or ice cream scoop, drop spoonfuls of the batter on parchment lined baking sheet.
- Lightly spray oil on top. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes until golden on the edges.
- Add sprinkle of chaat masala on the fritters (optional). Serve with chutneys Mint Cilantro Chutney or tomato chutney or ketchup or add to kadhi (non dairy yogurt sauce) or curry.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made this last night….I left out the heat….Left the mung beans to soak in the morning for the evening meal….I didn’t have to add any water as the batter was a perfect consistency without it….I really enjoyed it and will make it again….Thanks Richa for another keeper…..
Yay!! so good to hear.
Mounds of love!! Wow! I made these two days in a row because we just wanted more. Paired it with the suggested mint chutney. Super flavorful and super easy. You know it’s good when a 1 year old wants to keep munching on them. We had a fritter frenzy! Definitely will be making this again..and again… Thanks Richa!! Love, Janel and Eric
Awesome!! So happy you enjoyed it.
This recipe sounds delicious. I’m wondering if I can just mill the mung dal in my grain mill. I’ve done this successfully with dry chickpeas. What do you think?
Yes you can make moong dal flour and use it to make pancakes. I’d suggest letting the batter sit for at least half an hour. That will help the flavor and help with digestion of the bean.
These were yummy! The prep took me longer than the time indicated, but I’m so glad I made them. Thanks Richa!
Awesome!! So happy to hear.
It’s very healthy and easy to make dish I loved it’s very crispy from outside and yummy at inside with the taste of ginger ,green chilly and healthy spinach and the fried taste of onion will make the dish yummy 😋 😀
Awesome! Thanks for commenting.
Just made these and they are sooo flipping good, I’m going to lose my mind 🙂
Crispy on the outside, lovely texture from the onion, perfect balance of flavor with the cilantro, onion, garlic ginger and greens. The batter was also really easy to work with. Just LOVE these! They will be my perfect afternoon snack. Thanks so much Richa!
so glad you enjoyed!
Can these be made in air fryer?
sure – great idea!
Easy to try.👍
nice
Hi Richa! I tried these twice recently. They came out hard. Daal is from last year. I soaked for many hours. I kept batter as thick as possible by draining max water First time of making, there was more water. Also, I didn’t spray with oil. And I let them sit in oven after they turned slight brown. Are they hard due to these reasons? TY!
ahhh, yes, buy fresh, it was too old
Also over baked from your description. The fritters don’t turn brown in the oven and should stay somewhat yellow with some crisp brown edges
Would these work with urad dal?
Yes!