Baked Olive Lentil Fritters aka “Dal Vada”
By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by California Ripe Olives and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.
Growing up in Sri Lankan, “Dal Vada” or Lentil Fritters were a popular snack in our home. My mom used to soak and grind up lentils along with a whole slew of spices and green chilies. She would then form them into little discs and fry them. Today, I figured I would attempt to make a baked version of my mom’s dal vada! And, instead of green chilies, I added in California Black Ripe Olives for extra flavor!
Now, these baked fritters contain ground up oats. But, when my mom used to make these, it always blew my mind how soaked and ground up lentils can be formed into pretty much any shape and fried – without any eggs or flour to bind them! Even when chopped up onions are added to the mix!
For these fritters, I ground up ginger and garlic along with the lentils and cumin to distribute their flavor throughout each fritter. The chopped up onion and olives so enhanced the flavor and texture of these baked fritters that my mom gave them a thumbs up, even though they were not fried!
These Baked Olive Lentil Fritters are a fusion of Sri Lankan and Mediterranean cuisines. California Black Ripe Olives are so versatile and are cholesterol free – containing monounsaturated fat (the good fat) and no trans fat (the bad fat). I adore black olives for their unique flavor, texture and color. And, the fact that they contain .25 mg of vitamin E, .49 mg of iron, 60 IU of vitamin A and 0.5 grams of fiber per serving makes them the icing on the cake, or should I say the olives in the dal vada!
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Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons rolled oats
- 1 cup dry lentils - lentils need to be soaked for 1-4 hours. Once they are soaked I used red, they double in quantity and 1 cup dry lentils yields about 2 cups soaked lentils
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger
- 1 small onion chopped about 4 tablespoons
- 2/3 cups chopped California Black Ripe Olives
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 jalapeno chopped seeds removed according to your love of heat
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Olive Oil - for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Add the oats, soaked lentils, ginger, garlic, cumin, salt into a food processors and pulse till lentils are like powder almost.
- Stir in the chopped onion, California Black Ripe Olives, jalapeno and baking powder
- Form into circles
- Flatten each circle
- Brush with olive oil
- Bake for 20 minutes
- Eat while still warm with ketchup or sambal oelek.
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Hi! I’d love to make these but I’d need to have them gluten free.. can I just substitute the oats for gf flour?
Hi Iman,
Yes – you can most definitely substitute the oats with gf-flour or any flour.
Thanks for stopping by – hope you like these!
Made these this afternoon. Had to add lentil soak water and olive oil to get it to bind. Less oats perhaps?
Flavour is good but a bit stodgy inside.
Just added to the ReDux Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/thereciperedux/posts/1016884751666450
I love recipes that pretty much come together all in a food processor 🙂
I know right?! 🙂
I’ve never heard of soaking lentils…I am going to have to try this. These look like a delicious and healthy snack! Pinning for later 🙂
Thanks so much Rachel – I used to be a skeptic too – till I tried it!
I like the idea of baking these! Yum!
Thanks so much Cindy
I stopped right away when I saw these fritters. They look so so so lovely! Love this share a million times over, looking like dinnertime next week 🙂
Thanks so much Ala! You are too kind! 🙂
I love that you made lentil fritters and packed ’em full of olives! There was a time when I wouldn’t have gone for a recipe like this, but lentils + olives are definitely on my good side now…and I’m pretty sure I would devour all of these fritters. And then I would ransack your kitchen looking for more. I apologize in advance for the mess I’m about to create!
Hahaha! And to think the mess would have all been in vain as my mom had the leftovers at her place…. 🙂
Thanks David!
These vadas look super crisp, tempting and mouth-watering. I am loving these healthy bites! 🙂
Thanks so much Anu
Omg! I love lentils so there’s my ‘yes’. And another ‘yes’. And once again ‘yes’! How couldn’t I approve so delicious lentil fritters, indeed?! Well done, Shashi!
Haha – Thanks so much Ben!
hello fiber and all the flavor! great choice of fritters. I don’t think i could stop at one!
Heck yeah! Fiber and protein all in one 🙂
I love lentils and really should cook with them more. Will have to try these fritters! They look delicious. 🙂
Thanks so much Christin