These arancini are a twist to the authentic rice balls. These are made from leftover dal khichdi, i.e. a mix of rice and lentils. It's a great way to serve the leftovers making cheesy and crispy rice and lentil balls.
Arancini is an Italian dish, i.e. rice balls. This is an easy, quick, and delicious appetizer. Arancini is a mixture of rice or risotto and cheese which are coated with bread crumbs and deep fried. So these are crispy and cheesy.
Vegetarian Arancini From Dal Khichdi (Rice Lentil)
This veg arancini from dal khichdi is an Indian twist to this Italian snack. To make arancini, I have mashed the leftover rice and dal and mixed it with breadcrumbs, extra spices and seasonings, and some grated cheese. Then I coated them in the breadcrumbs. You can deep fry bake or air fry the arancini balls to crispy and golden. However, here I have deep-fried the balls.
How to prepare vegetarian arancini?
Prepare the rice mixture
Mash the leftover khichdi completely. Add all ingredients mentioned under making balls to the mashed khichdi. Mix all ingredients properly, making it a soft dough.
Grease your palms, take out small portions (of lemon size), and roll them into a smooth ball. Make all balls and keep them aside in the refrigerator to set. Cover the bowl with a cling wrap and store them in the refrigerator.
Make coated rice balls
Prepare a mixture of breadcrumbs, paprika, and oregano for the final coating of arancini balls. Prepare a slurry of refined flour, and cornstarch mixed with water. It should be of flowing consistency.
Take a ball and drop it in the slurry. Take out and roll on the seasoned bread crumbs mixture. Repeat this for all balls and keep them aside.
Fry the arancini balls
Heat oil in a pan and deep fry them till they are golden brown. Take out from oil and keep it on a paper napkin. Serve these yummy crispy and cheesy bites with any of your favorite dips or sauces.
Extra Tips
Authentically arancini is cheesy rice balls prepared with risotto rice. But you can always do that experiment with other ingredients too.
For this recipe, I have taken grated mozzarella cheese. You can take any other processed cheese as well. If you want to make this more cheesy then stuff some extra cheese in the centre of the balls.
You can prepare the mixture well ahead and refrigerate overnight.
Veg Arancini From Dal Khichdi
Equipment
- 1 Spatula
Ingredients
For Making Rice Balls
- 2 cup dal khichdi (leftover)
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 green chilli or red chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 tsp paprika powder or any chilli powder
- 2 - 3 tbsp bread crumbs
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese grated
- 1 pinch salt (optional as cheese and khichdi both has salt)
- 1 tsp Italian mixed herb (Oregano)
For coating & frying
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
- ½ tsp oregano
- ½ tsp paprika powder
- 2 tbsp refined flour
- 1 tbsp cornstarch for slurry
- 3 - 4 tbsp water
- 1 cup vegetable oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Mash the leftover khichdi completely.
- Add all ingredients mentioned under making balls to the mashed khichdi.
- Knead to mix all ingredients properly. Make it like a soft dough.
- Greese your palms and take out small portions of lemon and roll it to smooth ball.
- Make all balls and keep aside in the refrigerator to set.
- Cover the box with a cling wrap or a cover when storing in refrigerator.
- You can prepare the mixture well ahead and refrigerate overnight.
- Prepare a mixture of breadcrumbs, paparika and oregano for final coating of arancini balls.
- Prepare a slurry of refined flour, corn starch mixed together with water. It should be of flowing consistency.
- Take a ball and drop it in the mixture of flour and amke sure its wet with the thin paste or sluury.
- Take out and roll on the bread crumbs mixture. Repeat this for all balls and keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and deep fry them till they are golden brown in color. Take out from oil and keep on paper napkin.
- Serve these yummy crispy and cheesy bites with any of your favorite dip or sauce.
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