Pakoras or bajjias as they are also called, are one of India’s favorite tea time snacks at home or as a street snacks. Enjoyed at teatime specially on cool rainy afternoons or just something to accompany your hot beverage. Pakoras are always fried but there are number of baked and air fried versions. I’ve tried a few alternate versions, but really theres something comforting about fried pakoras that the alternatives lack and I love that, so I prefer the fried ones. I seldom eat or fry food, but when I have a spontaneous desire to eat pakoras its always the fried ones. So here we go…
Mixed veggie pakodas
- 100 grams about 4 oz carrots grated
- 100 grams about 4 oz cabbage, shredded
- 1 medium red onion thinly sliced
- 100 grams about 4 oz zucchini, grated, no need to squeeze
- a handful baby spinach, coarsely chopped
- couple of tablespoons of chopped cilantro is nice too
- 1 tsp salt or as needed
- 3/4-1 cup chickpea flour / gram flour/ besan
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp nigella seeds also called ajwain
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 -1 tsp hot chili powder to your heat level
- 1 tsp ground Chaat masala (optional)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 4 tbsp water or as needed
Vegetable Pakoras
- Shred cabbage, grate carrot n zucchini and place them in a bowl with the salt.
- Using your hands to knead and squeeze the vegetables for a minute until they release their liquid. Then add the sliced onion and spinach to the veggies.
- Stir together chickpea flour, baking powder and add all the spices into a small bowl.
- Add the flour mixture to the vegetables, along with 3-4 tablespoons water.
- Mix it until all vegetables are coated with the batter. The consistency should be similar to a dry muffin batter. Add a little extra water or chickpea flour if needed to get the dry muffin consistency.
- Pour oil in a small frying pan with high edges, about 3 inches (sunflower oil/avocado oil/safflower oil/grapeseed/ rice bran are all good options) and place over medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot drop a little bit of the batter to test the oil, (it should sizzle and float to the top). Gently drop about one heaped tablespoon of vegetable batter into the oil and fry for a minute or two on each side until golden and crispy. (Remember not to over crowd the oil the pakoras should have enough room to float around and can be easily flipped )
- Place on kitchen paper to soak up any extra oil and then transfer on to a wire reck. Repeat until all of the batter is fried.
- Enjoy with mint chutney or yogurt and with a cup of hot beverage.
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