Cookbook:Deep Fried Chickpea Dough Balls (Chyueeam)

| Cuisine of India

Cheyeeam are deep-fried balls of ground chickpeas.

Ingredients

 * ½ kg kadalai paruppu (Bengal gram, small brown chickpeas)
 * ½ kg vellam (jaggery, unrefined palm sugar)
 * 10 elackai (cardamom pods)
 * ½ kg maida mavu (refined wheat flour)
 * Water
 * Salt, to taste
 * 1 litre cooking oil

Procedure

 * 1) Soak kadalai paruppu in clean water for at least 8 hours. They will double in size, so allow extra water for them to soak up.
 * 2) Boil kadalai paruppu. This should take about 40 minutes in a regular pot on the stove, or about 9 minutes in a pressure cooker (plus 10 minutes to depressurise).
 * 3) Grind boiled kadalai paruppu with the jaggery and elachi, without adding any water, to make a dough.
 * 4) Make small balls with the dough.
 * 5) Make a thin batter with the maida and water. Add salt as needed.
 * 6) Dip the dough balls in the batter.
 * 7) Pour the oil in a pan. Heat until a small piece of dough floats and bubbles when added.
 * 8) Add a few battered dough balls. Deep fry individually until golden.