Pakora also called pakoda, pakodi, fakkura, bhajiya, bhajji is a popular fried snack (fritter) across the Indian subcontinent, where it is served in restaurants and also sold by street vendors. It is also often found in Indian restaurants as well as other South Asian restaurants in the Western world. Pakoras are created by choosing one or two main ingredients, such as onion, eggplant, potato, spinach, plantain, paneer, cauliflower, tomato, or chili pepper. They are also occasionally prepared with bread, buckwheat or groundnut They are dipped in a batter made from gram flour (chickpea / garbanzo bean flour) and then deep-fried. The most popular varieties include pyaaz pakora made from onion, and aloo pakora made from potato. Other variations include paalak pakora, made from spinach, and paneer pakora, made from paneer (soft cottage cheese). When onions, on their own, are prepared in the same way, they are known as onion bajji. A variation of pakora made from gram flour, fenugreek leaves and salt is called “Fulavda”, popular preparation of “bhajiya” in Gujarat.
We will see here how to make these Pakoras with some assorted vegetables (four Pakoras each) so that you can enjoy different tastes of these Pakoras. They are ideal evening snacks at all times and especially popular during the monsoon. Enjoy them with a cup of Tea or coffee.
Ingredients:
Besan (Gram Flour) – 1 cup
Rice Flour – 1/3 cup
Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
Red Chilli Powder – 1 ½ tsp (Adjust as per your preference)
Cumin Seeds – ¼ tsp
Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp
Salt – to suit one’s taste
Ginger Garlic Paste – ½ tsp (optional)
Cooking Soda – 1 pinch
Oil – for deep frying
Vegetables:
Egg Plant – thinly sliced
Potato – peeled and thinly sliced
Raw Plantain – cut into thin round slices
Capsicum (Bell Pepper) – cut into thin round slices
Onion – cut into thin round slices
Fresh Red Chillies – sliced and deseeded
Betel Leaves – 2 (cut vertically into two)
Method:
Take Besan, Rice Flour, Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder Cumin Seeds, Asafoetida, Salt, Cooking Soda and Ginger Garlic Paste and mix well. (Note: The quantities of these ingredients are for four slices of all the vegetables mentioned under Vegetable. If you want to increase quantity of the vegetables, you have to increase the quantity of these ingredients also).
Add water and make a batter which is not too thick or too thin. Adjust Salt at this stage of making the batter. Keep aside.
When you slice the vegetables as shown against the vegetables above, immerse the slices of Egg Plant, Potato and Raw Plantain in water immediately and keep them immersed till you want to use them. This will avoid discoloration of these vegetables.
Heat the Oil in a pan for deep frying.
Dip the Vegetables slices one by one in the batter and slide them into the Oil gently. Do not over crowd them in the Oil.
Flip each slice after frying for 2 to 3 minutes and fry the other side of the slices. Fry both the sides crisp and golden. Transfer to a kitchen Tissue so that excess Oil will be absorbed by the tissue.
Fry the Pakoras in batches.
Serve them hot or warm with ketchup, Chutney etc.
You can sprinkle chat masala on them if you prefer.
