Ingredients

125g chickpeas

250g yellow lentils (channa dhal)

1 tbsp cumin seeds

10 curry leaves

1/2 bunch coriander , leaves picked

4-5 dried red chillies

1 onion , diced

60ml  olive oil

oil for frying

Method

Soak the chickpeas and lentils in cold water overnight. Rinse well and drain. Whizz to a rough paste in a food processor. Put the cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander, chillies and onion in a food processor and whizz to a paste. Add the chickpea mixture and whizz again. With the processor still running, add 60ml olive oil in a steady stream - you should end up with a heavy paste that you can mould with a spoon.

Heat a wok or saucepan that's two-thirds full of oil until it is hot enough to fry a small piece of the paste in 1 minute. Form the paste into quenelles using 2 spoons, or go a bit more free form and spoon into rougher shapes. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are golden and crunchy. Serve with sweet chilli or spicy chilli sauce.