We all love patty. They pair perfectly with burgers or can be eaten separately dipped with spicy sauces and salads on the side…Don’t they add a bit extra joy to your meal? Today I will share a delicious and super crunchy patty recipe…well, it is not exactly as thick as patty because we eat it as a snack. It is rather a thin, bite size, miniature patty or fritter which can easily brighten up your evening! We call it Peyaju. It is one of the most common and most famous tea time snacks in Bangladesh, eaten with ketchup or dips…a must try Bangladeshi snack!

You basically need red lentils (or any kind of pulses) and white onion for making this Peyaju. Because of onion, it is called Peyaju in Bangladesh, because Peyaj means onion in Bangla language. For the very first step, you need to soak the lentil for minimum 3 hours to make it soft. Wash the lentils very well until the water is transparent and after soaking it for few hours, use your hand mixer, but only to the extent of lightly blending, so that you can still see some whole lentils and the mixture has very course texture. This is a must follow step to get the crunchiness of Peyaju.

Now slice the onion very thinly, if possible use a mandolin. This is a second must step to make the Peyaju extra crunchy, because thicker onion slices tend to get soggy and ultimately makes your patty soft (unless you want that). Now take salt, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chili and cumin powder and thinly sliced fresh chili and mix them altogether with sliced onion and lentil. Try using your hands to incorporate them very well.
Peyaju has its very certain shape, it is round and very thin with deep notches of your fingers. So to give the Peyaju its traditional shape, take little bit of the lentil onion mixture, use your palm to press a little bit and then press with your three fingers to give that classical shape!

Meanwhile warm the vegetable oil in medium heat. Since Peyaju is pretty thin, you don’t need much oil to fry them. However, we Bengalis like to deep fry our snacks. But I have used oil just as much to cover til top.
Please warm the oil very well before you start putting patties. However it does not mean to heat it very high as it only burns the oil. The tricks to any frying is to warm the oil in low to medium heat for at least 7 to 8 minutes, so your patty don’t get cracked or burnt. To check the oil if its properly warmed, put a tiny bits of your Peyaju mixture in oil. If it starts to create bubble around them, it means the oil is ready for frying.

Tips 1: Lightly blend the soaked lentils to make the Peyaju extra crunchy.

Fry each side of Peyaju for at least 3 minutes in Medium Low heat. Do not hurry as it will burn the Peyaju and you do not want that! Take them out of oil when they are deep red in color in both sides. You can use a strainer to take them out and put them on kitchen papers. It will soak the extra oil.

Tips 2: For even frying, warm oil in low to medium heat for 7 to 8 minutes.

Recipe: 6 Serving Prepping time: 3-4 hours, Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 250 gram Red Lentil or any available pulses 1 Large white Onion Spice and Condiments 200ml Vegetable Oil 1tbs fine Salt 1/2tsp Ginger paste 1/2tsp Garlic paste 1/2tsp Turmeric powder 1/2tsp Chili powder 1tsp Cumin powder 2-3 Green Chili as per desire

Instruction: 1. Soak the lentils for minimum 3 hours prior to cook. Wash lentil very well and lightly blend the lentils with hand mixture. Keep it coarse. 2. Very thinly slice the onion and chili. Add rest of the spices and incorporate them well. Add lentil paste and mix them with hand. 3. Warm oil meanwhile in a pan. 4. Make small bite size patty using your fingers. Directly put them in warm oil. 5. Fry both side minimum for 3 to 4 minutes in a medium heat. Take them out of oil when deep red in color. Put them on kitchen paper to soak extra oil. 6. Serve them warm with your favorite dips.