🍢 SNACK
Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties)
Soaked and skinned black lentils ground to a thick batter with ginger, garlic and cumin, then pan-fried in a little oil into soft, golden, crisp-edged patties.
Nepali (Newari) · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 30 min · plus 8 h hands-off time
~464 cal · 25g protein · 61g carbs · 13g fat · 11g fiber · 2g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Wo is a Newari dish from the Kathmandu Valley, a thick, savoury patty of ground lentils fried on a flat pan. In Nepali it is called bara, and the two words are often used for the same thing, though some Newar cooks draw a line: bara is deep-fried, wo is pan-fried in a spoon or two of oil.
The batter is nothing but lentils, usually split black lentils (urad dal, maas), soaked for hours, rubbed free of their dark skins and ground raw with ginger, garlic and cumin. Poured onto the hot pan it sets into a patty that is crisp at the edges and soft, almost spongy, inside. Some wo are topped with an egg or with spiced minced buffalo meat before they are flipped; the plain lentil wo is the everyday one.
Wo is eaten hot as a snack, sold at Newari eateries across the valley, and it has a place at celebrations. It belongs to the samay baji festival spread, and at sagun, the good-luck offering at birthdays, weddings and other happy occasions, wo is served with a boiled egg and fried fish.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 400 g (2 cups) split black lentils (urad dal or maas), split and skinned if you can find them, to save rubbing off the skins
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1 tsp garlic, finely minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 pinch wheat-free (hing), optional; most compounded hing is cut with wheat flour, so choose a gluten-free brand
- 2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 2 tsp salt, adjust to taste
- 6 tbsp vegetable oil, for the pan, a little for each batch
Instructions
- 1Rinse the lentils, cover them with plenty of water and leave to soak for at least 8 hours or overnight.
- 2If the lentils still have their skins, rub them between your hands under water and pour off the floating skins, repeating until most are gone. Drain well.
- 3Grind the lentils in a blender with just enough water to make a thick, smooth batter, like a thick pancake batter. Add the water a spoonful at a time.✎ Chef’s noteToo much water and the wo spread thin and fall apart when you turn them, so keep the batter thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
- 4Stir in the ginger, garlic, cumin, asafoetida, green chillies, coriander and salt, and beat for a minute to lighten the batter.
- 5Heat a heavy frying pan or flat griddle over medium-low heat with about 1 tbsp of oil. Spoon in 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter per wo and spread each into a round about 10 cm across, cooking three or four at a time.
- 6Fry for about 3 minutes until the underside is golden and crisp and the top has set, drizzle a little oil around the edges, then flip and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Repeat with the rest of the batter, adding oil for each batch, and serve hot with tomato achar.
Newari tradition of the Kathmandu Valley.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Kathmandu Valley. Bhaktapur makes juju dhau, king curd, by boiling buffalo milk with a little sugar and setting it in unglazed clay pots that pull moisture out as it thickens. Winter brings yomari, a pointed steamed dumpling of rice flour filled with molasses, eaten at the full moon that closes the rice harvest.
🗺️
Nepal. Nepali food revolves around dal bhat, lentils and rice eaten twice daily, alongside momo dumplings and Himalayan Tibetan influences. Simple, wholesome, and mountain-shaped, it leans on lentils, pickles (achar), and fermented greens.
🌍
Asia. Fermentation is the thread that runs the whole way across: soy sauce and miso, Korean doenjang and kimchi, Southeast Asian fish sauces, the soured batter behind an idli. Chilli is the newcomer among them, arriving only after 1500 with Portuguese and Spanish traders, which makes the heat in Sichuan, Thai and Korean cooking far younger than the fermenting underneath it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Nepal
Yomari (Newari Sweet Rice Dumpling)Fig-shaped steamed rice-flour dumpling filled with chaku (jaggery molasses), toasted sesame, and coconut, made for Yomari Punhi.
Dal Bhat TarkariThe Himalayan daily plate: tempered black lentils, rice, and a turmeric-spiced vegetable curry.
Sel RotiA ring-shaped, lightly sweet fermented rice bread, crisp outside and soft within.
Browse all Nepal recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Griddle or flat pan, Blender.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Nepal meal
TongbaDrink
Juju DhauDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties)?
Soaked and skinned black lentils ground to a thick batter with ginger, garlic and cumin, then pan-fried in a little oil into soft, golden, crisp-edged patties.
Where does Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties) come from?
Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties) is a Nepali (Newari) dish from Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.
Can Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Wo (Newari Black Lentil Patties) take to make?
About 9 h in all: 30 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking, plus 8 h of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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