Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Pakoras - The Tasty Fritters!

Oh! Who can resist these? Definitely not me. I find it very hard to restrain myself from snacking on these crispy mouthwatering tidbits!

A variety of pakoras: Onion, cauliflower and capsicum.
Pakoras or pakodi's, as these are commonly referred to, are one of the famous street snacks of India. These finger foods are tasty and easy to make, which attributes to their popularity.Basically these are made with gram flour (chick pea flour), wherein a thick batter is made by mixing gramflour, water, salt and chilli powder. Sometimes, ajwain (carom seeds) is added to this batter, to ward off acidity.

Corn pakoras
Varied vegetables are dipped in this batter and deep fried in oil to make crispy pakoras. Some of the vegetables most commonly used to make these fritters are: Onion, cauliflower, capsicum, spinach and corn. Sometimes pieces of paneer (cottage cheese) are also used to make these crispy nibbles. Of these, onion pakoras are the most popular. I prefer the cauliflower version.

Paneer (cottage cheese) pakoras
Palak (spinach) pakodi's
It is interesting to know that in Japan, they have a similar dish with some variations called tempura.

Pakoras are indeed a perfect tea time snack, especially in the monsoon and winter season coupled with a cup of hot chai (tea)! Spicier the better!

The perfect snack!

More the merrier!
I was amused and happy to hear that there is a food joint called 'Pakodi Factory’ in Hyderabad, which serves a variety of pakoras. And plan to visit it some time soon….

Are you ready for these yummy snacks?

Note: This article was originally posted on my food blog: https://tangyreview.wordpress.com/

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