This deep fried snacky food is the best when eaten with chai on a rainy day when you dont have to get out and get soggy socks and feet ( tea with milk indian style)- Dont call it Chai tea like a lot of people do because thats tea tea.
Its a very popular street food eaten as is or with a fabulous tamarind dip which is sweet and sour with a bit of spice to liven things up .
What pakora is is typically slices of raw or very lightly cooked vegetables which are dipped in a split peas/ chickpeas flour batter which we call besan. This ive eaten in various parts of Indian when i worked there and it used to be called bhajiya, bajji, and then the Brits started to call it Onion bhaji..and we dont make something quite like that in India..
Todays recipe is for my new friend who wants to make this as finger food
- Besan- 3- 4 T ( 100 g) More or less depending on how many people you are making this for and how hungry they are.
- Water to form a semi thick batter – this is not an exact science but rather more learnt experientially.. more times you make this the better you get.
- Rice flour – 1 T.. this makes it cripsier( not the typo). Cripsy just sounds better like the Bandra boys who always use it instead of crispy.
- Ajwain seeds- 1/4 t these are like aniseed and you can find them in an Indian store and in Australia even at Coles/ Woolies. They impart a unique flavor which has not quite a substitute thouse anise seeds could work. They also are anti flatulent which means when you eat a lot of pakoras since they are so tasty you wont be passing gas like a horsey.
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric – pinch
- Chilli powder – pinch
- Chaat masala to sprinkle after frying ( Mix of pink salt, dried mango powder , dried pomegranate powder chilli and a whole bunch of other things its best to buy in from Indian store or Indian section in Aussie supermarket.
- Vegetables- can be lighty blanced cauliflower or very thin slices of raw potato or even spinach leaves , capsicum, mushroom, peppers . There is one version of this where we slice a lot of onions and then add all the spices and besan with no water..the dry miz we then fry till crisp.. The British do a version of this but more rounded like a patty almost which they call bhaji.
- Oil to fry -and block up any arteries that might still be intact god forbid
The method is quite simple make a batter dip veggies inside they should be well coated but not very thick coating too . That detracts from the taste . Deep fry in hot / medium hot oil. Drain in a colander / strainer over a steel bowl to collect the oil. Dust with chaat masala and its your finger food to serve alongside some beer .
There is even a version of this where we make a savory crushed potato mix sandwich it in bread and then fry. Thats like the potato wada mix which i will now to put on. another blog post.
Where did this originate , who knows, we all got our chillies and potatoes only in the 15/16 century after South America was overrun by the Spanish Armada .
This is gluten free and vegan by the way if you are that way inclined.
