Bara

Bara is a crisp deep-fried fritter made from ground urad dal, flavoured with onion and chilli, and sold as a snack.

Bara is a snack from Suriname. Its base is urad dal, a split black lentil, which places it in the wider South Asian tradition of lentil fritters.

What it really is

The dal is soaked and ground into a thick batter with onion, chilli and cumin. The batter is shaped into small pieces and dropped into hot frying oil. It fries to a crisp, golden outside, while the inside stays soft and moist.

The classic recipe contains no meat, fish, egg, dairy or wheat flour. Because it is fried in plain frying oil, bara is vegan in its classic form. Differences tend to appear in the oil and in any sauce served with it, so check both.

How it's served

• Hot and freshly fried, while the outside is still crisp.
• Sold as a snack and usually eaten by hand, by the piece or in a small portion.
• With a chilli sauce or chutney if the kitchen offers one. The sauce is a separate item, not part of the bara.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the base: urad dal, a split black lentil, fried in frying oil.
• State that the classic recipe is vegan and has no declarable allergen, then list any sauce or chutney separately. Mustard and sesame can appear in sauces, so name them where they occur.
• Warn about shared fryers. If fish, prawns or wheat-based snacks are fried in the same oil, name crustaceans, fish and wheat as possible cross-contact.
• State the chilli heat, since guests ask about it, and give the portion size by piece or by weight.