Kale Fritters/ Keerai Vadai

Last time I was in my hometown I had these keerai vadai. When we stopped for some coffee at this new Cafe and asked about the snacks there, the staff suggested these. That is the first time we were having keerai vadai and my family really liked them. They were big, crunchy and had a good quantity of leaves in them as if they were just made to use the leaves but and were really crisp to every bite.  Coming back whenever my family talks about the food we tried back home this vadai was talked about too.
I had always wanted to try making them but never found the time or occasion. So when I was planning on  making lentil fritters for Iftar yesterday these popped up in my mind and thought of making them. Usually I try to incorporate as much vegetables as possible to our diet, because it's really hard to do it during fasting. Kids always prefer to have something fried and meaty for Iftar and mostly that is the only complete meal of the day.
Why Kale here because I had fresh frozen kale and wanted to try using them in this recipe. Usually baked kale leaves are an awesome treat to snack on and satisfy the health freak in you. So I was pretty sure using kale in this recipe will turn out good and they did, yahoo!
Kale has this thick texture, so if you are using fresh leaves chop them fine in food processor/dry grinder. You can also use spinach or fenugreek (methi) leaves. So here I'm, blogging about keerai vadai. These can be made for breakfast or as a snack and is a great way to feed the greens to your kids or may be the whole family :). Happy snacking.

INGREDIENTS :

1/2 Cup channa dal
1/4 Cup moong dal
1 Cup fresh kale (or 3/4 cup fresh frozen)
1 Small onion
2 Green chilies
1 Sprig curry leaf
1/2 Tsp fennel seeds
A pinch asafoetida powder (optional)
1/4 Tsp red chili flakes
Salt to taste
1/4 Cup or more oil (for deep frying)

METHOD :

Wash and soak both channa and moong dal in water for about an hour or two. Once soaked drain the water and keep them to dry for about 30 minutes or just spread them in kitchen/paper towel to remove extra moisture.
Take two teaspoons of soaked dal and keep aside. In a food processor or dry grinder pulse the remaining dal to a coarse mix.
Remove them to a mixing bowl.
In the same grinder place onion, green chilies, curry leaves, asafoetida and the kale leaves and pulse them. Just as if they are roughly chopped.
Add to the ground lentils along with fennel seeds, red chili flakes, the reserved whole lentils and salt.
Mix them all together and make small size balls. Keep them aside.
In a deep frying pan, add oil and heat it at medium high flame. One oil is hot enough (if you drop a pinch of the prepared dough it should sizzle and rise to the top) take the balls, flatten them within your palm and drop it in the oil. Reduce flame to medium low and fry until golden brown on both sides approximately 3 mins on each side (this depends on the size of the vadai).
Remove them and keep on a paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil before serving.