Kunukku

Kunukku is a deep fried nugget of spiced lentils and rice. It's kind of like vadai, but the proporition of ingredients are slightly different. Usually, left over vadai batter is utilized to make kunukku. It's crunchy, crispy, and an easy to prepare fritter/starter. 

 Ingredients:

1. ½ cup kadala paruppu / bengal gram dhal
2. ½ cup thuvaram paruppu / thoor dhal
3. ¼ cup rice
4. ¼ cup ulutham paruppu / split black gram dhal
5. 2-3 dry red chillies
6. 1 teaspoon salt, or according to taste
7. ¼ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
8. about 4 cups vegetable oil
9. some curry leaves

Preparation:

1. Soak the bengal gram dhal, thoor dhal, split black gram dhal, rice, and red chillies for 1 hour. Strain the water and coarsely grind everything with about 2 tablespoons of water (or slightly more if needed) to prepare the batter. The batter's consistency should be the same as vadai batter - thick and moist. A slightly coarse batter would result in crispy fritters. 
2. To the batter, mix hing, salt, and curry leaves. 
3. Heat oil in a cast-iron pot on medium-high heat. Check if the oil is hot by dropping a little bit of batter. If it immediately sizzles and rises to the top, the oil is hot. Maintain the oil temperature by adjusting the heat between medium and medium-high. 
4. Pick up small nuggets of the batter and drop carefully into the oil. Do not overcrowd the pot with more than 5 kunukkus. Fry until crispy and golden brown. 
5. Remove the kunukkus and drain on paper towels. 

 Serve with ketchup or sauce. Just the plain crispy kunukkus is great with tea/coffee.