Lentil Wari

Wari are a type of dumpling made from lentils, beans or rice. Any one of these staple ingredients is soaked in water till soft, then ground, spiced and formed into little cakes, like scones, cone-shapes or balls. Of course they can be made fresh and used immediately, but more often these are made in large batches and dried for later use. They can then be stored away in airtight containers and used when required. When adding them to a stew or curry it is advisable to add extra water to the dish so that there is sufficient gravy to cook them in.

Ingredients:
1kg yellow split peas (chana dhal), Chinese mung beans (moong dhal), or puy lentils
1 bunch of spring onions
1 head of garlic, peeled
500g green beans
10ml ground turmeric
5ml ground coriander
10ml ground cumin
2 bunches of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
250g green chillies, minced
30ml vegetable oil
salt to taste
5-10ml garam masala

Method:
Preheat the oven to 120-150C.
Soak the lentils over night. In the morning, put them in a blend them to a thick paste. Ad the onions, garlic and green beans to the blender and blend them into the lentil paste. Add the spices, coriander leaves, minced chillies, vegetable oil and salt to taste. Mix well.

Prepare baking trays, lined with baking paper. Shape tablespoonfuls of mixture into flattened balls or cone-shapes and place them on the baking trays with a little space between each. Place the trays in the oven for 1-2 hours to dry. If they begin to brown, your oven is too hot. Once the cakes are dry and hard, remove them from the oven and allow to cool before packing in airtight containers for use in curries or stews as required.