Bobbarlu Vadalu – Black eyed Peas (Lobia) Fritters

I had bought some bobbarlu from the rythu bazaar last week and prepared a snack with these black eyed peas, today. Bobbarlu, alasandalu, lobia, vella payuru, karamani – the names by which cow pea/white kidney bean/black eyed pea is known in different parts of India is packed with a lot of protein, dietary fibre and nutrition.

Bobbarlu vadalu are a savory deep fried snack popular in Andhra. It’s a very down-to-earth recipe, that is appetising at sight, tasty and simple to prepare. Its prepared as a evening tiffin/snack at our home, for my 4 year old. Usually chopped onions, ginger, green chillis and coriander leaves are used to prepare the traditional bobbarlu vadalu, but today I added some grated coconut and carrots for variation and to provide more nutrition. Serve hot to savor the crunchy vadalu.

1 Grind the soaked and drained black eyed peas to a coarse paste adding very little water. Add the chopped onions, grated carrot, coconut, green chillis, ginger, coriander leaves, cumin seeds and salt and mix well.

2 Take some of this mixture to form a lemon sized ball. Flatten it on your palm to make a patti shape. Prepare patties with the rest of the mixture.

3 Heat oil for deep frying. Once its piping hot, reduce flame to medium and place these patties in the oil and fry them to a golden brown color.

4Serve hot with tomato sauce or any chutney of your choice.