Cookbook:Deep Fried Chickpea Dough Curry Snacks (Pakoda)

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes | Indian Cuisine

Pakoda is a savoury South Indian fried snack made from gram flour, spices and onions. This simple recipe is for Pakoda, as made in TamilNadu, India. A different version called "Pakora" is famous in the other parts of India. The difference is that for making "Pakora", the batter/mix can be a bit more liquidy like for making pancakes and different vegetables like spinach, potatoes may be used for the same, but not in this recipe, which makes crunchier snacks.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240g) of Besan or gram flour
• 0.5 cup water
• 2 tspns rice flour (for crunchiness)
• 2 tspns green gram flour(optional - for added crunch)
• salt to taste
• ¼ tspn of asafoetida
• ¼ tspn of turmeric
• ¼ tspn of cayenne pepper
• 8-10 curry leaves
• 1 tspn of cumin powder
• 1 tspn of crushed black peppercorns
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped finely
• 0.5 cup peanuts, preferably roasted
• 1 tspn oil for the flour mix
• oil to fry

Procedure

1. Add all the dry ingredients except the salt, peanuts and onions and mix well.
2. Now add the onions, peanuts and oil (1 tspn) along with the salt and mix well.
3. Keep aside for about 10 mins. The moisture from the onions will ooze out into the batter.
4. Making sure to add a little bit of water at a time, make a batter which will form chunks but break into pieces with a little bit of pressure. The consistency should be of the same as when making scones. Too much water and the pakoda will not be crunchy.
5. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed vessel.
6. Shape the batter into chunks and deep-fry medium hot oil until it is golden brown and crispy. Too much turmeric might give it a darker color.
7. Serve hot or room temperature. Store at room temperature for about 3-4 days. Should not be refrigerated to maintain the crunch.

Maybe served with ketchup or any style of chutney.

Servings: 2 Preparation Time: 20 Minutes

MAHARASHTRIAN METHOD / KHEKDA [!] BHAJI

• Peel 5-6 onions and cut them in thin slices.
• Place cut onions in a covered bowl.
• Wash and finely cut 2-3 green chillies and then add to the onions.
• Add salt to the onion mix in the bowl and mix it in.
• After 10-15 mins add ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp (or more if you like your pakoda hot) of red chilli powder, 1tsp coarsely ground cumin, 1 tsp coarsely ground coriander seeds to the onion mix.
• Mix all the mixture well.
• By this time the onion mix should be moist due to added salt and spices. If a moister mix is required allow to stand another 5 minutes.
• Now start adding gram flour to the onion mix. Add little flour at a time. The mixture should not be dry. Add the flour just to absorb the moistness. You should end up with a somewhat sticky mixture.
• Heat sufficient oil in a wok or frying pan.
• Once heated sufficiently carefully take around 2-3 tbsp of hot oil and add to the onion and gram flour mix.
• Mix the mixture well.
• Now fry the mixture in medium hot oil until it gets a golden brown colour, by dropping in a few small to medium chunks of batter at a time. If you have used 4-5 large onions and a medium wok you are likely to need 3-4 batches of frying to finish the batter.
• Serve hot with green chutney or tomato ketchup. After pakodas serve piping hot tea! [This is a very traditional combination to have during the monsoon season!]