Wa: – The recipe for Simple and Delicious Newari Patty

Before we begin we have to clarify something. Wa: and Baara are two separate Newari Dishes. Wa: is similar to bara but is not another name of the same dish as many people think. The major difference lies in the fact that Wa: is shallow fried while Baara is deep-fried. Along with that, there is also the shape of these two foods. Wa: is a patty while Bara is shaped like a doughnut.

With this cleared, let’s talk about Wa. Similar to Choila, this patty-like dish is one of the most well-known dishes from the Newari Community. Also similar to Choila, this dish is also used just about everywhere. This includes its uses in traditional and cultural practices to its use in daily life as a snack. Now unlike a lot of other dishes, making this food takes a lot of preparation. The preparation of at least an overnight to be precise.

However once the preparation is done, it is as simple as making a patty. Let’s move on to the recipe to see why it takes so much preparation, shall we?

Ingredients of Wa:

Soaked Black Gram Beans200 Grams
Water 5 cups
Salt to taste (optional)
Garlic and Ginger Paste 40 Grams
Oil 20Ml
Water 100
Potato – half a piece

Note* this recipe is for the serving of 4 portion with 50 gram per person or 2 patties per person of 25 grams each.

How to Make a Traditional Wa:

Now there are a lot of variants of Wa: However, all of the variants have a base and it is the traditional Wa: This simple lentil patty can be made by soaking black gram beans, deskinning them, and turning them into a patty. The interesting thing about this dish is that salt is optional.

Total time 1 day and 40 minutes

Step 1 Soak and deskin the Gram Beans

This is the first step to make Wa: and also the reason why it takes so long to make this dish. You have to soak the black gram Beans for the whole night or around 8 hours. After this is done, you have to deskin Gram Beans by gently rubbing them between your fingers.

Step 2 Grind the Gram Beans

In this step, you grind the beans and turn them into a paste. Be careful not to make the paste too fine and keep it a bit coarse. If the paste is too fine, it will affect the taste of the Wa: and make it dryer. You can add the garlic ginger paste after you make the paste and mix it well.

Step 3 Cook the beans

After you have ground the Beans, it’s time to make the patty. To do this, heat up a pan and spread some oil. After that grab a ball of bean paste and place it in the pan. Soak your hands in the water and then using the back of your hand, press the paste in the pan to form a flat shape. Cook it for 5 minutes and flip it around. Take it out after 5 more minutes

Final Thoughts

There are two primary variants of Wa: as well. One of them is called Khen Was: where an egg is placed on one side of the patty before. Another one is called Laa Wa: in which minced meat is mixed along with the patty before cooking.

This simple dish is usually complemented with a hot soup or a hot sauce. However, if it can also be on its own. Also, although It is made primarily made from Black Gram Beans, it can also be made from Masoor Dal as well.

Side Note* Although this is cooked into a patty and eaten after it is ground to paste, there is also a practice in the Newari culture where the lentil paste is eaten raw along with meat soup. This is not really a healthy way to eat but as it can cause indigestion but at times, it does taste really good, especially when eaten with meat soup.

Thank you for reading till the end and as always, if you have any suggestions for us, let us know them in the comments down below.