Spicy Crunchy Pakodas
By Sid Khullar • May 26th, 2008 • Category: Columns
| It looks like you're a regular now! :-) Have you registered yet? We've got loads of discount coupons for registered users, which are updated every month with new restaurants. |
 |
We had these crunchy, spicy pakodas for lunch yesterday.
While not usually lunch material, they provided a nice change as pakodas are normally snack food in India. One of the most common times they’re made is when it’s raining outside. Most houses will then deep fry this delicious snack and the whole family consumes copious quantities of hot, sweet tea while enjoying the smell of fresh rain. Pakodas (or fritters) are essentially batter fried vegetables. The batter normally consists of seasoned chick pea flour with water and sometimes a little refined bread flour (maida). Different vegetables, like potaoes, cauliflour, aubergine, sliced onions or a mixture of vegetables are then dipped in the batter and deep fried. It also tastes great between slices of buttered bread. - Sid PS: Don’t make the batter too thick, else they wont be crunchy. Conversely, too thin and they’ll splatter all over your kitchen. For the seasoning I suggest salt, paprika (or red chilli powder) and perhaps a hint of dried mango powder (aamchur). |
Chef at Large Reviews by Chef at Large is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.chefatlarge.in. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.chefatlarge.in.
Sid Khullar is a self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food.
Email this author | All posts by Sid Khullar
Perfect for today then! It started raining at 11.00pm on Friday night and it hasn’t stopped yet! If I had chickpea flour and some decent vegetables I’d be in that kitchen cooking them right now.:-(
I was smiling as I read Toni’s comment. It is raining here too and everyone seems to be ordering Pakoras. I have been doling out so many Pakora orders that I don;t think I can look at another Pakora. The smell of frying pakoras is so delicious that its like the proverbial yawn. One person starts it and everybody follows suit.
If only I could get my hands on some…poor Vinny, you must have been so very busy!
It’s still raining here…
Toni, today is a good day for me. I have been struggling as Line Cook cum Executive Chef for the past week. Both my cooks had taken off on an unscheduled holiday. Today both are back and I can put my legs up from time to time.
Good news Vinny! It’s important to be able to elevate your legs regularly. It must have been a struggle without your helpers.
I still hanker after some pakodas – it’s still raining…
Why not try making them with any other type of flour you may have with you at the moment. If it isn’t a strongly flavored flour (like chickpea flour), you could add a dash of turmeric and perhaps some garam masala if you have some handy.
Mostly because I don’t have any vegetables at home, apart from tomatoes! I’ll have a rosemary flavoured ham sandwich for lunch then we’ll probably have curry out tonight and I have to think what to pack for my holiday…can’t think too much about cooking at the moment!
I have never heard of pakoras before. Seems kinda like tempura. Does using chickpea flour as opposed to regular flour make any difference?
Jared: You’re right in a way, they are much like vegetables fried in tempura batter. The only difference is that while tempura batter uses refined flour, is mixed cold and is lumpy – this chickpea flour batter is mixed to a smooth consistency. Also, chick pea flour has a very distinctive and strong flavor, which is unlike refined flour batter.
Thos pakodas look gorgeous and i love them. True back at home mostly they were made when it was raining.
Pakodas sound delicous…would love to try them. Can you share an actual recipe? Also, I live in Brazil so the specialty flours you suggest might be difficult to get. Do you think adding curry to the flour would work? If so, what do you think would be a good curry to flour ratio? I can’t wait to try these…and it’s even wet and rainy today!
@HappyCook: Yeah. I remember this shop in Jallandhar, India, where this chap had a 4 feet by 4 feet board, stacked with pakodas of a dozen or more different varieties in every color and shape. Looked absolutely delicious. Then there was this cart in a village on the road to Nepal, through UP, which sold fist size pakodas, of vegetables scrunched together, dipped in batter and fried. Lovely!
@Debra: Well yes, of course! You just need to take some gramflour / chickpea flour, add water, salt and chilli powder to make a creamy consistency – just enough to coat anything you choose to dip into it. Dip vegetables into this batter and fry in medium hot oil. You can use thinly sliced potatoes, cauliflower, sliced onions, aubergine and just about anything else you like.
Hmmm… curry. Never thought of it before. But a great idea and worth a try. Try this: Refined flour (the type used for bechamel sauce) with a little salt, paprika and a one third of a tablespoon curry powder per cup of flour. Mix, then make mixture with water and follow as above. Do let me know how it turns out.
Try eating them with mint sauce (the English kind)!
Hello,
This look a lot like Indonesian fritter. Only, we use plain flour or half and half with rice flour and the veggies are cabbage,carrot,beansprout and sometimes corn kernels. The seasonings are just onions,garlic and salt. Do you have any samosa recipe? I’m only a beginner with Indian food, been trying this and that, and veggie samosa is my favorite this far!
@Ika – Those fritters sound interesting. Perhaps you could share a recipe? There are many samosa recipes – personally, I prefer the very simple, low-spiced ones. Here’s a site that has a bunch of samosa recipes – http://www.samosa-recipe.com/. Let me know if these work for you. If not, we’ll have a ’samosa special’ shortly, as my type of samosas aren’t the most popular variety.
For me even… the word “Pakodas” sound delicious.
My hubby love pakoras.. may it be onion, potato, paneer or the stuffed one that we here call “Mirchi bajiya “ or bhajji in Bangalore. If you are garlic lover like me n my hubby than just same ginger n garlic crushed.. a pinch of cooking soda (make then crunchy) and garam masala to make them more flavorful. To give them more professional touch just make the batter with chick pea flour and keep it aside for 20-30 mins. If you have rice flour than just add a tsp of it ( optional) to make them even more crunchy…hey that’s just a tip ?
If you have carom seeds (ajwain) just seeds, just crush. Believe me once crushed they just burst there flavors in batter and the pakoras will taste heaven.
Sonal
Hi Sonal – Thank you for visiting my blog and I’m glad you like Pakodas. Thanks for the tips you’ve left – I’ll give them a shot the next time we have a cold or rainy day.
Sid, you could come here and make them, It’s bitterly cold and wet.
Hello Toni: Why don’t you try the Chinese rendition – take a few veggies (baby corn, mushrooms and other stuff which cooks fast), wash, sprinkle with a mixture of cornflour, salt and pepper, while keeping the veggies in a colander, so they’re unevenly coated with the mixture, which also sticks to it. deep, flash fry. tastes crunchy and nice, and excellent with a cup of hot jasmine tea.
I’ve had these before with regular white flour. Just add some garlic and crushed pepper to the mix, and fry ‘em up.:)
Such a wonderful idea, This recipe looks so royal that I can wait to prepare it and cherish the taste.