Indian Moong Bean Fritter (Moong Bhajiya)

Ahh.. the sinful fried food. Sinful yet mouth watering, sometimes so delicious that it can even breaks the diet vows :).  The name Indian Moong Bean Friiter may sound like a 5-star recipe but in reality a homely Indian recipe loved across India and other parts of the world, from streets to home and to restaurant, this food is lovingly made & served and commonly known as Moong Bhajiya or Moongoda. 

These fritters are popular because almost every Indian home, house the ingredients used in the recipe and are staple. They are easy to make and tastes awesome and unique. There are ready to make packages available but trust me nothing beats the freshly made Moongodas.

They are adored by vegetarians and loved by vegans (no animal product used).  If you have the right recipe like this, they are super easy to make.

My mom inherited this recipe from my beloved grandmother and I swear to god, she makes them taste heavenly. Sounds yummm??? Lets get started. 

Useful Information:

Preparation Time : 30 Mins (Excluding Overnight soaking)
Cooking Time: 5-10 Mins
Servings: 8 (Trust me, only 2 people can finish it :D, it is so delicious )

Please dont forget to vote if you like it, I promise to share more awesomeness :D

Step 1: Ingredients

You would need following ingredients to make these fritters. If you live outside india, for example USA, you can get them at any indian or asian grocerry store, I have seen these stores in NJ, NY & CA.

Please refer the images above to have a good idea about the ingredients:

For Batter:

1. Split Moong Bean: 250gms
2. Medium Size Red Onions: 2
3. Green Chillies (Thin): 6-8
4. Ginger Root : 2 Pieces about 1inch.
5. Coriander or Cilantro Leaves: About 50gms
6. Paprika Powder: 2 teaspoonful
7. Salt : As per taste
8. Dried Coriander seed powder: 2-3 Teaspoonful
9. Asafoetida (Heeng) Powder:  1/5 Teaspoonful

For Chutney and garnishing:

1. Red Tomatoes Medium Sized : 2 
2. Green Chilly Thin : 2
3. Cumin Seeds: 1 teaspoonful
4. Paprika Powder: 1 teaspoonful or 1/2
5. Lemon: 1

Kitchen Tools:

1. Mixer Grinder
2. Deep Frying Pan 
3. Spatula with holes
4. Kitchen paper towels or kitchen tissue.

Ahhh.. and dont forget to add Love :)

Step 2: Preparation

We have to soak the moong beans overnight in water. To do so:

1. Wash beans in cold water.
2. Put it in a deep bowl with water.
3. Make sure that the bowl is deep, so that soaked beans don't erupt outside in the morning.   
4. Leave it overnight

Some people use hot water to speed up soaking but based on my experience it also reduces the flavor. 

Once the beans are soaked nicely (See Image 1):

1. Wash them again, you will notice that beans and shell are separated.
2. Drain off all the water (See Image 1)
3. Take a handful of soaked beans and keep them separate. (This will make the moongodas more crunchy).
4. In the mixer grinder, grind the remaining beans, the texture should be coarse (See Image 2).

NOTE: Do not add water if you find the beans too dry to grind, instead grind the beans, stop grinder and strr the mixture using a spoon.Repeat this to get the desired texture

Transfer the batter in a big bowl and do as follows:

1. Finely Chop Onions, Green chillies (about 6), Ginger Root and Coriander (Cilantro) (See Image 3).
2. Now add paprika, salt ,dried coriander powder and asafoetida powder in the batter (See Image 4)
3. Add onions, chillies, ginger and coriander. (See Image 5) and also handful soaked beans, we kept separate.

NOTE: If you want to make this hot, you can add more green chillies and paprika.

The batter is ready, now while the aroma of spices is enhancing the batter, lets prepare some sauce (Chutney) in the meantime.

Step 3: Making the Chutney(Sauce)

You can call this a bonus ible, this chutney recipe is very simple, popular in India and delicious. This is how you make it.

1. Cut 2 tomatoes, 2 green chillies, 2 handful of coriander leaves.
2. Add salt to taste (a little extra salt is better), some paprika, some cumin seeds (You can add these after grinding too)
3. Put them in the grinder. (See Image 1)
4. Grind it

Your chutney is ready.  For people who like moong fritters hot & spicy, do as follows:

1. Deep fry 4-5 green chillies till they turn yellowish (See Image 2)
2. Take them out on on tissue paper, sprinkle some salt and few drop of lemon. (See Image 3)

Step 4: Frying

I hope you did not forget to add love in all the previous steps :). Lets fry the batter.

1. Heat the oil in the deep frying pan.
2. Scoop a tablespoonful of batter and put in the hot oil (In India this is usually done using hands , because it give more control in the size and shape of fritters). I used hands, make sure they are very very clean if you choose to use them. I chose to make them little flat, unlike balls, because this way its easier to avoid over-frying.
3. Put more scoops unless there is no space in the pan to put one more (See Image 1).
4. When the edges of the fritters starts turning golden brown, flip to fry the other side (See image 2) using the spatula
5. When the other side is also golden brown, take them out one by one using spatula draining access oil. Keep them on tissue paper in a plate to absorb access oil (See Image 3)

Congratulation!!! You just made scrumptious Moong Fritters (lovingly called Moongoda :)) Serve hot with Chutney and Fried Chillies. (See Image 4).

I hope you liked and enjoyed this ible as much as I did it in cooking the fritters and making an ible. Thank you for reading this ible. If you like it, please vote.

I would love see your feedback and if you choose to try this, please share a pic. Should you have any questions, I am more than happy to answer.