Street Foods of India - Ram Ladoo (Delhi)

Come winters in Delhi and a very different foodie tends to emerge. One that longs for a nice mid morning drive to pick up some Chhole Bhature, get it packed and rush home so that all can have a heavy brunch. Or, some hot aloo tikki in the evenings at the roadside chaat shop. Parties tend to get lively around the grill, with hot tikkas and kababs coming straight off it onto the waiting plates. I long for getting my share of ram ladoos during winters, and my perfect haunt for getting them - Lajpat Nagar market. Garnished with some freshly grated radish and generous helpings of coriander-mint-green chili chutney, they make for the perfect roadside snack for me.
I don't know why they are called Ram Ladoo. Some even call them Gulgullas, but these moong dal dumplings somehow take you back to the old world Delhi, when little money could buy you a good lavish evening, weekends were spent with people and not TV sets, life was far less complicated and snacks like these were the McBurgers for us.

Ram Ladoo

Ingredients:

Moong Dal, washed - 200 gm

Chana Dal - 100 gm

Soda BiCarb - 1 Tsp

Salt - To Taste

Green Chillies, finely chopped - 1

Oil - For Deep frying

Radish, peeled & grated

Cilantro, finely chopped

Mint Chutney

Method:

1. Wash the dals and soak the dals in water separately for 6 hours alongwith soda bicarb.

2. Drain the water and coarsely grind the dals without any addition of extra water. Note : Do not grind the dal to a smooth paste else the batter will not form into ladoos.

3. Add in salt and finely chopped green chillies. Beat the mixture till it gets a light and frothy.

Note: To check doneness of consistency required, drop a small ball of batter into a bowl of water. If it rises to the surface it is done, else, get back to beating it more.

4. Heat oil in a wok till it gets hot.

5. Using wet finger Lift a small amount of batter and drop into the hot oil. Fry till golden.

6. Remove from wok onto paper napkins to drain excess oil. Repeat till al batter is used or you have fried the ram ladoos required.

7. To Assemble : Put 2 ladoos in a bowl and top with grated radish, mint chutney and some chopped cilantro. (P.S. : I have added less of the chutney. Usually it is flooded with the chutney :) )

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