Soak the lentils together for about 45 minutes. Drain well and keep 2 tbsp of the drained lentils aside. Grind the rest of the lentils, along with the other ingredients (except the oil), into thick coarse paste. If you must add water while grinding do not add more than a tsp or so. Too much water (or if the lentil paste is not coarse enough) will make the fritters difficult to shape. The fritters will also not crisp on frying.

Add the 2 tbsp reserved whole soaked lentils to the paste and mix. This makes the fritters nice and crisp.

Heat the oil. Moisten the fingers and inner palm of your right hand with water. This ensures the batter doesn't stick. Take a small bit of the lentil paste (about enough for a small cookie) and shape it into a ball. Moisten the palm of your left hand with water and place the ball on your other palm.

Flatten it slightly (about 1/2" thick) with your right, using all four fingers together. This will create a ridged pattern. Now slide the shaped mixture onto your right set of fingers and slowly slide it into the oil.

Repeat with the rest of the lentil mixture and fry in batches of 5 or 6 depending on the size of your pan/ fryer. Fry the fritters on both sides till brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels and serve hot. This recipe should make about 20 fritters. I'm not sure as I wasn't counting.

These fritters are usually served on the side, along with the main meal when rasam is being eaten with rice. They tend to lose their crispness and become a bit chewy when cold, so the leftovers are soaked in rasam and eaten. I personally do not like them this way and in these days of the microwave would rather re-crisp them.

You may also serve these at coffee/ tea time with ketchup or coconut chutney.