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    Home » Recipes » Appetizers/Snacks

    Published: May 18, 2020 by Usha Rao

    Baya Kyaw ~ Yellow Split Pea Fritters

    Jump to Recipe

    Baya Kyaw or Burmese yellow split peas fritters are vegan, gluten free fritters from Burma or Myanmar.    Crispy, spicy fritters make a great snack, appetizer and a light meal. 

    Basket of baya kyaw or Burmese Yellow Split Pea Fritters

    Burmese Yellow Split Peas Fritters

    Baya Kyaw are deep fried fritters with yellow split peas. To prepare fritter batter, yellow split peas are soaked overnight and then ground to a coarse paste. Baya Kyaw are a great finger food to serve at parties and also a nice snack with evening tea. 

    Baya kyaw is similar to masala vada, both in taste and preparation.  You will not even notice a difference between Burmese fritters and masala vada unless mentioned. In fact chana dal is a good substitute for yellow split pea, though these two are from  different legume families.  

    A plate of baya kyaw and coriander chutney on the side

    Ingredients for Fritters

    Yellow Split Peas, Bird’s eye red chili, onion, cilantro, paprika, turmeric and oil are the main ingredients for baya kyaw.  Chana dal and green chilies are a good substitute for yellow split peas and bird’s eye chilies respectively.  

    Preparation

    Soak split peas overnight, grind to a coarse paste along with chilies, mix rest of the ingredients, shape and deep fry.  Do not add too much water when grinding split peas.

    How to serve

    Serve fritters with green or coriander chutney or a chili dipping sauce of your choice.  These make a great evening snack, breakfast and also a light meal.  Fritters are also great to serve as a finger food at parties.  You can stuff fritters in pita bread just like falafel and serve with some yogurt sauce or tzatziki sauce.   

    Storing 

    Fritters stay good for 12 - 20 hours at room temperature and in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.  Reheat in a microwave for a few seconds before serving.  Bawa kyaw freezes very well.  When planning on freezing, fry fritters just until golden and cool completely before freezing.  On the day of serving, thaw and grill on each side for 2-4 minutes.  

    Half eaten plate of yellow split peas fritters and one half eaten fritters dipped in coriander chutney

    This post was first published on 3 Jun, 2015. Updating the post to insert a recipe card and images to meet Google & theme requirements.

    Bawa Kyaw Recipe

    📖 Recipe

    Basket of baya kyaw - Burmese yellow split peas fritters

    Baya Kyaw ~ Burmese Yellow Split Peas Fritters

    Baya Kyaw are fritters made with yellow split peas. Vegan, gluten free fritters are crispy and flavorful.
    4 from 5 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Appetizer, Light Meal, Snack
    Cuisine: Burmese
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Soaking Time: 8 hours hours
    Total Time: 8 hours hours 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 32 fritters
    Calories: 23kcal
    Author: Usha Rao

    Equipment

    • Food Processor
    • Mixing Bowls
    • Pan for deep frying
    • Spoons to shape fritters
    • Slotted Spoon
    • Paper Towels to drain fritters

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup Yellow Split Peas approx. or 225 grams, soaked overnight or for 7-8 hours
    • 1 Bird’s Eye Red Chili chopped or 2 green chilies
    • 2 tablespoon Water for grinding the peas
    • 1 medium Onion chopped about ½ – ⅔ cups chopped Onion
    • Handful of fresh Coriander Leaves chopped about ¼ - ½ cup
    • ¼ teaspoon Paprika adjust to taste. I used 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
    • ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
    • 1 teaspoon Salt
    • Oil for deep frying

    Instructions

    • Wash and soak yellow split peas overnight or up to 7-8 hours.
    • Transfer dal to a colander and drain water. Take ½ of the peas in a food processor and coarsely pulse it. Transfer to a bowl and keep aside.
    • Take the remaining peas in the processor bowl, add chopped chilies and process until smooth. Add some water if required. I added 2 tablespoon of water.
    • Transfer ground paste to the bowl of coarsely pulsed peas, add onion, cilantro, salt, chili powder/paprika, coriander leaves and mix everything together.
    • Heat oil in a pan to deep fry fritters.
    • Using a teaspoon scoop out some mixture. Using another teaspoon shape the mixture to an oval shape.
    • Drop in hot oil and fry for 2-4 minutes on medium flame until golden brown. Depending on the size of the pan, 6-8 fritters at a time. Do not over crowd.
    • Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
    • Serve warm with coriander chutney or sour chili tamarind dip.

    Notes

    • Substitutes -Replace yellow split peas with chana dal. I replace bird's eye chili with green chili
    • Make ahead - Fritters freeze very well. Fry fritters until just golden. Let them cool completely before freezing, When ready to serve, defrost and grill for 2-4 minutes on side before serving. I have not tried this but it might work.
    • Variation - For a variation use moong dal instead of split peas or follow moong dal garelu recipe with split peas.  You can also follow masala vada recipe using just yellow split peas.
    • Nutrition - Values in the label are approximate for 1 fritter.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 23kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 78mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 1mg
    Tried this recipe?Share a photo! Mention @usha_myspicykitchen or tag #Usha_MySpicyKitchen!

    This is my post for this week’s Global Cuisine theme. Check out the Blogging Marathon Page to see what my fellow marathoners are doing this BM.

    Blogging Marathon Logo

    This post was first published on 3 Jun, 2015.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      4 from 5 votes (2 ratings without comment)

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    1. Janet Lardner says

      January 20, 2024 at 1:56 pm

      4 stars
      Hi tried this a couple of weeks ago delicious. However I had soaked the split yellow peas for 48 hours. Tonight I cooked with yellow split peas soaked for 14 hours, big difference, the fritters were gritty and horrible. My advise is to soak the longer the better. Very disappointed tonight had to throw half of the away.

      Reply
      • Usha Rao says

        January 25, 2024 at 7:40 am

        I am sorry to hear this. I make fritters with lentils all the time. I usually soak overnight or 6-8 hours for split lentils and it always works for me. I will test it again and thanks for your feedback.

        Reply
    2. chantal Vincent says

      June 07, 2022 at 5:46 pm

      5 stars
      The most delicious fritters ever!!!!! I also prepared the suggested Dhania chutney and was that ever worth it. If you want to be told over and over how "fantastic" the mea is, this is the one. Thank you My Spicy kitchen.

      Reply
    3. Suma Gandlur says

      June 02, 2020 at 9:58 pm

      Sounds delicious. It is interesting to see how recipes transcend borders and cuisines.

      Reply
    4. Harini Rupanagudi says

      May 31, 2020 at 9:55 pm

      5 stars
      These fritters are so tempting. I agree that the split yellow peas can be substituted with chana dal and they would taste just the same. Anyway we can come up with chutneys and fritters with any ingredient on hand 🙂

      Reply
    5. Vaishali says

      May 20, 2020 at 8:02 am

      It’s interesting to see how the different legumes and pulses are used to make these vadas . Have never tried with yellow peas , will do so soon , in fact I feel we can try different pulses and I am sure they would be popular somewhere !
      The fritters look super tempting !

      Reply
    6. Stephan says

      October 23, 2018 at 7:15 am

      Hi Usha that looks amazing is yellow Split Peas chana dhal ? As in France it's quite difficult to find ? Many thanks

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        October 23, 2018 at 9:50 am

        Stephan, yellow split peas and chana dal are different. But one can substitute yellow split peas with chana dal in this recipe.

        Reply
    7. Sowmya:) says

      June 29, 2015 at 11:31 am

      Looks crispy and tasty!

      Reply
    8. veena krishnakumar says

      June 16, 2015 at 9:13 am

      These look very crunchy!!!

      Reply
    9. Preety Mohata says

      June 14, 2015 at 10:14 pm

      Nice pictures.. It's looks so inviting..

      Reply
    10. Vaishali Sabnani says

      June 14, 2015 at 8:20 am

      Super clicks and an amazing choice, wonderful Usha.

      Reply
    11. PJ says

      June 13, 2015 at 1:36 am

      Wow Usha! These look so crunchy!!! Love pics as usual 🙂

      Reply
    12. Priya Srinivasan says

      June 11, 2015 at 3:12 am

      Is the plate green or yellow? Suddenly gone color blind!! Sorry If it is green, it looks like yellow for me

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        June 11, 2015 at 10:37 am

        Priya, it is yellow. You have not gone color blind.. 🙂

        Reply
    13. Priya Srinivasan says

      June 11, 2015 at 3:10 am

      Lovely pics usha, that yellow plate in which you have served the fritters so compliments the dish, superb!!
      As Sandhya said they look very similar to our paruppu vadai, nicely crisp and crunchy!!

      Reply
    14. Pavani says

      June 10, 2015 at 10:47 am

      Awesome clicks Usha, makes me want to grab a few fritters right off the screen 🙂 Fritters look crispy and yummy!!

      Reply
    15. Varada says

      June 08, 2015 at 8:54 am

      Love the new look. The pictures are lovely. These sound a lot like masala vada.

      Reply
    16. Harini says

      June 07, 2015 at 11:29 am

      Awesome new look and the fritters are just too tempting.

      Reply
    17. themadscientistskitchen says

      June 07, 2015 at 8:34 am

      awesome new look for the blog. As for these fitters they are awesome. In fact I have been googling to see what split yellow peas look like.

      Reply
    18. sizzlingtastebuds says

      June 06, 2015 at 7:52 am

      Your new blog layout looks good ! And these fritters are so tempting 🙂

      Reply
    19. cookingwithsapana says

      June 05, 2015 at 5:00 pm

      Those fritters looks so delicious and stunning.

      Reply
    20. Chef Mireille says

      June 04, 2015 at 11:48 pm

      they look so perfectly crispy crunchy

      Reply
    21. pumpkinfarmfood says

      June 04, 2015 at 1:50 pm

      u have got the shape of madellines here, they look stunning

      Reply
    22. Sandhya Ramakrishnan says

      June 03, 2015 at 9:56 pm

      Love to see the similarities between the cuisines! They do look like our masala vadai. Lovely choice and I would love some as snack as well 🙂

      Reply
    23. priya says

      June 03, 2015 at 2:55 pm

      Such a super crispy fritters, feel like munching some rite now.

      Reply
    24. Sarita says

      June 03, 2015 at 2:47 pm

      Love these fritters Usha! Great snack for all. Awesome pics !

      Reply
    25. Praba Bubesh says

      June 03, 2015 at 12:18 pm

      fritters look soo crispy and yummy...great evening snack...

      Reply
    26. Suma gandlur says

      June 03, 2015 at 11:47 am

      The chili shortage thing was kinda surprising to me. And the fritters look great.

      Reply
    27. Rajani says

      June 03, 2015 at 8:28 am

      The pictures are awesome Usha. So well captured. Good to know about the frozen chilli, I haven't bought green chillies for a longtime now.

      Reply
    28. Sushma says

      June 03, 2015 at 8:26 am

      Great usha, I made this for day 3 post. Urs look delicious and crispy.

      Reply
    29. Srivalli says

      June 03, 2015 at 8:19 am

      Awesome pictures Usha...I enjoyed reading the post..I wanted to do the same as well. However after reading felt it would be same as you said. So selected something else, which also ended up being like Indian pakodas. Guess we Indians have all sorts of fritters..:)..btw I didn't comment on the new layout, it looks so beautiful...how abt the header though?..

      Reply
      • MySpicyKitchen says

        June 03, 2015 at 8:56 am

        Thanks Valli! As of now I do not have any plans to have a header. There are already so many photos in the post. I could not find a template that met all my requirements and I also want some ads on the blog. So going with out a header for now.

        Reply

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