Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Pakora / Fritters

I think a pakoda does not need any intro for a typical Indian. But for those who do not know about it... A pakoda is a deep fried fritter made out of besan flour and onion:)
Back in India they sell this crispy pakoras even in small sweet stalls. They make so many varieties of pakoda like cashew pakoda, mint pakoda,Keerai(greens)pakoda,bitter gourd pakoda, onion pakoda and an ordinary pakoda. During winter or rainy seasons ,they place the hot stove in the front portion and fry it as per our order. I am sure nobody can resist buying these tempting hot fritters on their way back home after a busy day:)
Nowadays I make this as a side dish whenever I run out of vegetables.
I am narrating the basic procedure for an 'ordinary pakoda'. You can make innumerable varieties out of it.
Lets beat this chill weather by this hot pakoda:)


Ingredients:
Besan flour - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/4 cup
Red onion - 1 (big)
green chilli - 3
ginger - 2 inch
salt - to taste
curry leaves- 1 brig
cilantro - 1/4 bunch
mint leaf - a handful
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
curry (garam) masala powder - 1 tsp
oil - to deep fry (250 ml)

Method:
Chop the onion into thin slices.
Finely chop the green chilli, ginger, cilantro and mint leaves.
Mix the chopped veggies with the besan flour and rice flour.Add chilli powder, salt and garam masala powder.
Try to knead the flour without adding water.
Heat 2 tbsp oil and add it to the mixture. (optional). This makes the pakoda more crispy. Instead of oil we can add a few drops of water also.
The dough consistency should not be like chapathi dough. It should be like a mixture of moistened flour with veggies.
Heat oil in a kadai. Drop small pieces of mixture in to the hot oil and fry to get crispy fritters.
Take them out and place over paper towels to remove excess oil.
Crispy pakoda is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot as an evening snack or as side dish with any variety-rice.
Goes fine with curd rice or sambar rice.

13 comments:

Usha said...

I agree who can resist these yummy fritters anytime...looks delicious!

Cham said...

What ever season, pakoda remains the favorite evening snack. Great looking one!

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

pakoda loooks too good Viki. send some over here.. it's cold here and i would like to have some.

Shama Nagarajan said...

i miss these pakoda's here......looks crispy

Varsha Vipins said...

i make this often..luks yummy..

Malar Gandhi said...

True who can resist....if they put their hot stove in front of us, do all the frying...sure irresistable, luv any kind of pakoras!

Anonymous said...

Loox so tempting viki,long time sice i made this...thankz for sharing:)

Premyscakes said...

Wow, it looks perfect and very much tempting to have a bite.

Adlak's tiny world said...

right now i want this pakodas... crispy and tasty hm.... cant take it out...

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Uj said...

Pakoda looks crispy and yummy.. Suits this cold weather here

Anonymous said...

Wonderful - these are some of my favorite little treats! I have never thought of making them at home before, but I will have to give them a try!

Anonymous said...

I used to get these at a place in Scotland have been looking how to make them. thanks. if you could only give me the ingredients for the dipping sauce

Vikis Kitchen said...

Reply for the query on dipping:
In my homeland they serve these fritters alone as a snack. Oflate Tomato sauce made its way and we enjoy the pakora with it.
Mostly I remember these pakora as a side dish served along with any rice if we run out of any curry.
It is called as the middle class people's staple side dish:)
So we can enjoy Tomato sauce as the dipping.

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