Gateaux Piments from Mauritius

On a visit to the beautiful island of Mauritius, I was incredibly lucky to get to sample Gateaux Piments.  These dal fritters from Mauritius are a delicious street food and exceptionally quick and easy to make.  The longest part of the process is soaking the lentils or yellow split peas overnight.  Serve hot as a tasty snack.  Perfect as a bar snack when you have guests coming over for drinks.  You can use a chutney or a sweet chili sauce for dipping your Gateaux Piments in as an added dimension.

1 cup lentils/yellow split peas
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 onion finely chopped
2 chilies finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
oil for frying
Soak the lentils or yellow split peas overnight in water.  Pour off the excess water and put the lentils or yellow split peas in the food processor to make a paste.  Add the salt, onions, chilies and baking soda and mix it all together.  Divide the mixture up into golf-sized balls.  Flatten slightly and fry until golden.  It doesn't get much easier than this!

Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Norway.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. http://cindyvine.com