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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.

Baked Olive Lentil Fritters aka Dal Vada

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!

Olive Lentil Fritters

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!

Dal Vada

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!

Dal Vada Baked Oliv Lentil Fritters RunninSrilankan

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!

[Tweet “Baked Olive Lentil Fritters aka “Dal Vada” #TheRecipeRedux @RunninSrilankan”]

Baked Olive Lentil Fritters aka Dal Vada

Baked Olive Lentil Fritters aka "Dal Vada"

Yield: 12
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes

A delicious, baked fritter packed with lentils and black olives - crispy on the outside and so tasty on the inside! These would make a healthy and wonderful appetizer as well as protein and oat packed breakfast!

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

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  2. Add the oats, soaked lentils, ginger, garlic, cumin, salt into a food processors and pulse till lentils are like powder almost.
  3. Stir in the chopped onion, California Black Ripe Olives, jalapeno and baking powder
  4. Form into circles
  5. Flatten each circle
  6. Brush with olive oil
  7. Bake for 20 minutes
  8. Eat while still warm with ketchup or sambal oelek.

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Iman

Monday 8th of January 2024

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?

Hiya, I’m Shashi

Monday 8th of January 2024

Hi Iman,

Yes - you can most definitely substitute the oats with gf-flour or any flour. Thanks for stopping by - hope you like these!

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Just added to the ReDux Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/thereciperedux/posts/1016884751666450

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