Spicy peas delight!

The unfinished product. Pictures by Preeti Maheshwari

Semolina green-pea balls are usually made with mashed potatoes and breadcrumbs but my grandfather was diabetic, so to avoid starchy potatoes and breadcrumb coating, my grandma made this dish with semolina. I learned to make it from her but after coming to New Zealand I gave it another twist. Instead of using dry mango powder (it's not readily available here), I started using lemon juice to give it a tangy taste. My grandma used to tell me, compared with potatoes, semolina is more filling and healthy. These nutritious, non-messy and tasty peas balls are perfect starters. They're crunchy on the outside and spicy inside. They can also be put in breads, sandwiches or burgers.

1 cup semolina

2 cups water

1 tsp ginger-green chilli paste

1 tsp sugar

salt to taste

1 tsp oil for kneading

1 cup coarsely crushed green peas

¼ cup finely chopped onions

2 tbsp finely chopped coriander

½ grated ginger

1 tsp finely chopped green chilli (optional)

½ tsp sugar

½ tsp black pepper powder

salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

½ tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp lemon juice

• In a deep non-stick pan, boil the water.

• Add the semolina, ginger-green chilli paste, sugar and salt to taste. Remove from the heat and mix it well so that there's no lumps remaining.

• Cover with a lid and keep aside for 2 minutes.

• Transfer this mixture into a plate and keep aside to cool slightly.

• Add the oil and knead the mixture into a soft dough.

• In the non-stick pan heat the oil, add cumin seeds. Once it starts spluttering add onions and saute it till it becomes light in colour on low heat.

• Now add peas, green chilli, ginger, sugar, black pepper powder, salt to taste, chopped coriander and lemon juice. Mix them well and remove from the heat.

• Divide the dough and the filling into 16 equal portions.

• Take a portion of dough and form a depression in the centre. Put in the peas filling and bring together the sides of the dough to the centre to seal the filling. Softly roll it a little to give a nice ball shape. Do it with all the remaining dough and filling portions.

• Heat oil in a deep pan and deep-fry the balls until they turn a nice golden brown.

• Serve the yummy balls with tomato ketchup or coriander chutney.