The chilli cake or gato piman is a traditional Seychellois snack made with red split lentils, chilli and spices. It is deliciously spicy and ideal for beach picnics or as accompaniment to a cold beer.
- 375 g red split lentils ( note 1)
- 3 chillies, finely chopped ( note 2)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cracked pepper
- 1 bunch coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 tsp cumin seeds
- 10 curry leaves , chopped
- 5 tbsp plain flour ( note 3)
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
- oil for deep frying
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Wash lentils and soak for about 4-6 hours . The lentils should now weigh approximately 640g.
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Place in a colander or a sieve and wash under running water.
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Let drain for about 30 minutes.
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Place in a mortar and pound into a rough thick paste. This was the traditional way of making the paste. Alternatively, use the modern method which is to pulse the lentils coarsely a few times in a food processor. Your paste should not be too fine. If required, you may have to add one tablespoon of water to loosen the paste. Avoid adding too much water because the lentils have already absorbed a lot of water and you may end up with a very loose paste. (note 3).
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Transfer the paste into a big mixing bowl
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Add in the other ingredients, except the flour, and thoroughly mix.
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Add a tablespoonful of flour at a time until you have a thick paste that is still a bit moist. Roll mixture in rough small balls of about 3 cm diameter and set aside until ready to fry.
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Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the small balls for about 4 minutes until golden brown. Space them out a little so they do not stick together. Drop as many as the frying pan can accommodate in a batch. Ensure the oil is not too hot because, of its thick consistency, the outside the cakes may cook faster than the inside.
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When one side is done and nicely fried, carefully turn over the cakes to cook the other side.
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Once the cakes turn a uniform golden brown, take them out and carefully place them on a kitchen towel, to soak out the excess oil. They should be golden and crunchy on the outside and soft, fluffy and moist on the inside.
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The cakes are best served and eaten when fresh and warm but are as good when consumed at room temperature.
1 -Instead of red lentils you may also try yellow split lentils, the flavour and texture of which will be slightly different but will taste as good.
2-The bird’s eye chilli , or piman Martin, is the preferred chilli . The goat chilli or piman kabri, may also be used but it is a very hot chilli and the strong flavour tends to overpower the other spices. You can adjust the chilli level to suit your own taste.
3- The recipe requires 5 tablespoons of plain flour. Please note that some lentils will absorb more water than others when soaked. Do not add all the flour in one go. Do it gradually. You may need slightly less or even more. At the end, all you require is a moist mixture that is not too dry.
Before the advent of food processor the traditional Seychellois cook would parboil the lentils and place it in a mortar and roughly pound it to make the paste.
The chilli cakes can also be frozen for a few weeks. When you are ready to use them , all you have to do is to defrost them in your microwave for 30 seconds and them put them in a hot oven for about 10 minutes. They will end up being as crispy as the day they were made!
The variations
Why not try and flatten your cakes. Do they have to be round? Chilli cakes can also be made into shapes of small flat patties. In fact, in Sri Lanka, for example, you can buy them in a biscuit shape. In this case they will be crispier because they are thinner.
You may also decide to add ½ teaspoon of turmeric to give the cakes that extra spicy dimension and yellow tinge.
If you wish to have crispier chilli cakes, add 1 tsp of rice flour into the mixture.
If you prefer softer and fluffier chilli cakes, add ½ tsp of baking powder to the mixture.The reason why I don’t use baking powder is because I like my chilli cakes more “meaty”!
If you prefer your chilli cakes to be extra spicy dry roast the following spices and add to the mixture before frying: ½ tsp fennel seeds and 1 tsp coriander seeds. Once nicely roasted, coarse pound them in a mortar and pestle.
Make it tropical by adding ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder to the mix.
You can also eat your chilli cakes in a curry or even in bread as a type of sandwich.