Our Veggie Kitchen

This post is my final installment from last Saturday's Indian Extravaganza. I made Koftas, they rocked! I made Parathas, always a hit. I made a kid-friendly curry, it was friendly to adults to. I made Basmati Rice, you have to. For dessert, My wife made Green Tea Cupcakes. And I made Pakoras. I never make deep fried food, but sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do!



I love pakoras. They are the reason that I usually eat too much when we go out for Indian food. But I like them a spacific way. I've seem them anywhere from strips of veggies deep fried to a tangled wad of deep fried veggies, which I consider to be more of a Bhaji. I like my pakoras to be crispy on the outside, but to have plenty of puffy dough interlaced with thinly cut vegetables. So that's what I did. And I really really liked them. And I ate way too many.



Pakoras
1 1/4 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1/4 cup rice flour
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin seed
1 tbs ginger, minced
2 serrano peppers, seeded & minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 shallots (or a small red onion), chopped
1 red potato, diced
1 cup cauliflower, chopped small
oil for frying

Stir together the flours and spices. Stir in the water, witholding a little, until you get a batter that is a little thicker than pancake batter. A thinner batter will yield more of a breading, while a thicker batter will yield more of a doughy filling. I prefer the latter, but you may want to play around a little. Stir in the remaining ingredients.

Heat the oil in a deep pan. Add oil and heat it to 350 degrees. The oil will be hot enough when you can drop a bit of dough, and it quickly rises to the top. Drop spoonfuls of dough in batches into the oil and fry until the dough is brown and crisp. Drain on a paper towel. Serve hot. Makes about 24 large pakoras.

6 Servings: 303 cal (20g fat, 26g carbs, 6g protein)