Make Pakoras

Pakora is a popular snack in the Indian sub-continent, usually served with Tea. Its usually consumed when it is hot & crispy during a raining day.

Ingredients

Pakoras:

  • 1 cup besan (chickpea powder)
  • 3 tablespoons rice flour
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon carom seeds
  • 2 green chilies, finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 small potato, thinly sliced
  • 1 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
  • Few florets of cauliflower, thinly sliced
  • Water
  • Salt
  • Oil to fry

Steps

Pakoras

  1. In a mixing bowl add besan, rice flour, garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric, cumin seeds, ajwan seeds and salt.
  2. Add water little by little and mix the ingredients to get a smooth batter.
  3. Add finely chopped green chilies and coriander leaves & mix well to get a thick soup or thick cream consistency.
  4. Heat oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan on medium flame.
  5. Dip the vegetable slices in the batter one after another making sure the slices are well covered with the batter.
  6. Slowly drop them into the frying pan.
  7. Pakoras can be fried in small batches. They usually take 4 to 5 minutes to fry.
  8. Fry the pakoras till they are golden-brown on both the sides, turning occasionally.
  9. Serve hot with any chutney.

Pakoras by equal parts

This method allows you to adjust the amount according to how many guests you're feeding.

  1. Note that there are three main ingredients needed in equal parts:
    • 1. Gram flour with a small amount of self raising/rising wheat flour.
    • 2. Mashed potato.
    • 3. Mixed vegetables and spices, with chilies and chopped coriander. The best vegetables are onions chopped into small pieces, peas, small diced carrots.
    • Spices should include: ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, onion seeds.
  2. Boil the potatoes, heating them from cold water in a pan. Mash using a ricer or a masher but be careful not to over-do the mashing as the potatoes will become sticky.
  3. Add the gram flour.
  4. Sweat the onions and pre-cook any vegetables that may need it. Peas should be okay left raw. Add the spices to the onions while cooking. Add to the mix.
  5. Add water and mix by hand until the mixture starts to be liquid enough to just start to fall off a spoon on its own.
  6. Bring a wok or pan full with vegetable oil to 180ºC, ready to deep fry the pakora. Drop the mixture by spoon into the hot oil to create shapes about the size of a thumb. Keep the oil at around 160ºC and the pakora should become a beautiful golden colour after 10 to 15 minutes.
  7. Serve hot or allow to cool for a delicious snack. Decorate with chopped coriander leaves.



Tips

  • To check if the oil is ready for frying, put a drop of batter in it. The batter should come up, but not change color right away.
  • Make sure the temperature of oil is suitable for frying. If it's too hot the crispiness is lost and if it's not hot enough then the pakoras will be very greasy.
  • Keep the vegetable slices as thin as possible in order to get crispy pakoras.
  • Vegetables like brinjals (Indian eggplant), zucchinis (courgettes), cabbage, capsicum (bell pepper), spinach and different types of chilies can be used.

Things You'll Need

  • A mixing bowl.
  • A heavy bottomed skillet or frying pan.
  • Kitchen tissues (paper towels)(Place the pakoras after they are fried on the kitchen tissue to remove excess oil)

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Sources and Citations

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