can pakode be substituted with something on a rainy day? have a shallow fried pakoda I say



It rained in Delhi a few days back and the winter season got a good boost, otherwise it was looking like we will not be able to see any real winter this year .......

All our memories of a happy rainy days are soaked with pakode and chai and if it's a winter rain you can't stop yourself from indulging. The masala chai needs an appropriate companion but what to do when you are bent over avoiding fried stuff.

Not to worry. Think smart. You'll get the dose of great veggies with some protein and very little fat. Good fat if you are using mustard oil. (unfortunately this indigenous oil is ignored for it's omega 3s content and the olive oil has become fashionable).

Believe me if I say you will eat the pakode in 1 tbsp of oil (serving 2 for tea) ....

I am tempted to tell about a friend of Arvind who used to frequent our place with his wife in the evenings. Knowing that this guy loves pakode I tried making different kind of pakode for him every time.....mostly this kind of low oil ones.........he used to say that he loved the pakode or samose which were filled with oil (the ones where the oil gets soaked inside accidentally) and used to look for them in the plate. He never found one on my plate of pakode as I would feel a sadistic pleasure looking at him sometimes. Sometimes I used to deep fry spinach pakodas for him too being a good host.

 And his wife used to tell me ...apke pakode kha ke bilkul heavy nahi lagta....waise to hame flatulence hota hai pakode kha ke..... I never told them it was the oil..

Now when both of us got transferred to different places he remembers my pakode every time he talks to Arvind over phone. Pakode make good food memories. They make great snacks too but we need to be careful with the oil it soaks up. Try shallow fried pakode and you would never deep fry them.

ingredients...

vegetables of your choice cut into small pieces (i used a cup of cauliflower florets and 3/4 cup of green parts of spring onions ... only half of the batter got used for making the pakode seen in picture, other half of the batter was used the next day)

ajwain (omum ) seeds 1 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
green chillies 3, ginger 1/2 inch and 3 cloves of garlic made into a paste
salt to taste
besan or chickpea flour 2 heaped tbs or a bit more, just enough to coat the veggies
mustard oil 1 tbsp for one batch (this quantity makes two batches)

procedure...

mix all the ingredients, except the oil to make a thick batter.

now heat a thick base kadai (i used my cast iron one which behaves like nonstick) or a nonstick one..and pour 3/4 tbsp of oil and coat the kadai ....

spread half of the mixture in the kadai and let it cook on low heat till you make your tea....i made masala chai with it.........

 

drop 1/4 tbsp of the oil on top of this and flip over the mix....when you see it has browned on the cooked side......



it breaks into pieces when you flip this ....let it be like this...and if it does not break it means you added extra besan .....which makes the pakode less crisp .....let it break happily and cook till your masala chai is ready and it gets browned on the other side too....repeat with the next batch if you need...or use the mixture next day.......

Serve immediately with tea and see how yummy it is.......the cauliflowers will be nice and crunchy and the spring onions will be wilted and yet very fresh n flavorful.........use veggies taking care their texture .......spinach with all it's stalks or roughly chopped cabbage comes out really well too...



sometimes I make this pakode with soaked and ground paste of chana daal and that is very tasty too.......

Comments

  1. Dear Sangeeta
    Very nice in deed. In our house we rarely dip fry vege Pakoda, unless some special occasions.
    This type of frying I call frying under Oil starving condition..:-)
    Thanks for sharing

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  2. have never tried making pakodas in this style...will surely try this one !!

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  3. This is new to me, must try this for sure!

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  4. My MIL's favourite style specially when she makes it for morning breakfast...bread pakora kind...

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  5. hey nice pakodas...superb idea of frying them.I used 2 always skip eating pakodas coz of oil content...now i can njoy them with ur idea

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  6. I made these yesterday....and I was amazed at how crispy the pakoda's turned out to be!!! Until now, to make them crisp,I used to deep-fry my pakodas..twice!!!..
    Imagine!!

    And...NO...Nothing can replace the good old Pakodas on a rainy day.... Thanks for taking the guilt out of the pakodas...now they will taste even better :)

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  7. I made these yesterday!!!
    and I am AMAZED at how crisp the Pakodas turned out to be!!..earlier I had to deep fry them TWICE...to get them crisp!...Imagine!!...LOL
    Thanks for taking the guilt out of the pakodas....because you are right...Nothing can replace pakodas on a rainy day

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  8. Sangeeta you think of every thing. You remind me of Dr Samuel Johnson's description of Shakespeare. He had famously written "He saw life fully, and he saw it whole" I would like to know the difference between cast iron and wrought iron kadais. I want to buy a couple of iron pans/woks for every day cooking and I would love your wise inputs. Please enlighten if possible.

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    Replies
    1. Now this is a really generous praise I am being showered with. Thanks you Aparna :-) but I haven't seen it all.
      This kadhai is cast iron and not wrought iron as wrongly written in the post. I must correct it now as it must have been a mindless mistake year ago.
      You can look for cast iron kadhais in rural areas. I have bought a few from Gangtok, Mysore, Chennai etc. This one was gifted by a friend.

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  9. You are welcome. Some villages skirting my place have ironsmiths. i have bought a couple of gardening equipment really cheap.Looking forward to buying some iron kadhais. Thanks for your advice.

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