Mixed Vegetable Pakora
from http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/
You can make this using different types of veggies like eggplant, cauliflower, potato, capsicum, cabbage, raw plantains, sweet potato, bitter gourd, green chili, mushrooms, cubes of paneer and of course onions.
Vegetable pakoras are best dipped in a mint chutney, tamarind chutney, or sprinkled with chat masala.
Pakora batter:
3 cups besan/chickpea flour
1 cup rice flour
1 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
a pinch or two of hing/asafoetida
1 tsp red chili powder (laal mirch powder)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
water to make the batter
oil for frying
salt
The vegetables:
2 small brinjals (eggplant)
1 large potato
4 green chili – the larger variety of green chillies meant for pakoras
For serving:
In a bowl take all the dry ingredients meant for the batter. Add water and prepare the batter. the batter should not be too thick nor too thin.
Slice the brinjals thinly and keep them in salted water for about 15-20 mins.
Thinly slice the potatoes also. slit the green chillies without breaking them. the top and the base of the green chillies must be intact.
Now heat oil for deep frying the pakoras. Dip the vegetable slices one by one in the batter and slide these into the oil.
Fry in batches and drain the fried vegetable pakoras on kitchen tissue.
Sprinkle some chaat masala on the pakoras.
Serve the mix vegetable pakora piping hot with mint chutney and tamarind chutney and have fun during the monsoons.
Serves 4
Crispy Vegetable Pakoras
from https://www.manjulaskitchen.com/
These bite-sized snacks are fried to crispy golden-brown perfection. I serve pakoras with tamarind or cilantro chutney. When cooked right they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Vegetable Pakoras are easy and quick to make, not to mention you can use a variety of vegetables to make them.
4 okras (cut vertically into 4 slices)
12 green beans (cut into half then cut them vertically)
½ red bell pepper (sliced into about quarter inch thick)
⅓ cup besan (Bengal gram flour)
2 Tbsp corn starch (arrow root)
2 Tbsp rice flour
2 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
¼ tsp mango powder* (amchoor)
¼ tsp red chili powder
⅛ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
First prepare the vegetables: okras, wash and pat dry, cut off the tops and bottom. Then cut the okras vertically into four slices. Bell pepper slice into about quarter inch thick, making julienne, and cut the green beans into half then cut them vertically.
Next! Prepare pakora mix, mix all the dry ingredients together, besan, corn starch rice flour, and baking soda, mix them well. Rice flour, corn starch and baking soda will add the extra crispness to pakoras.
Now add the other spices, coriander powder, mango powder, red chili powder and salt. Mix all the ingredients well.
Sprinkle the dry mix over vegetables mix them well add water little at a time as needed to coat the vegetables nicely with besan spice mix, vegetables should be coated well. I added about 1/4th cup of water.
Heat at least one inch of oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. To test, put one drop of batter in the oil. The batter should come up slowly. Drop the pakoas slowly one at a time. Put few pakoras at a time don’t overlap the pakoras.
Fry the pakoras until they turn golden brown, turning them occasionally. This should take about 6 minutes.
Take them out over paper towel to absorb the extra oil.
Fry all the pakoras same way.
*Amchoor or aamchur or amchur, also referred to as mango powder, is a fruity spice powder made from dried unripe green mangoes and is used as a citrusy seasoning. It is mostly produced in India, and is used to flavor foods and add the nutritional benefits of mangoes when the fresh fruit is out of season.
Serves 4
