cooking club: November 2015

Pakoras and bondas- Hosting Daring cooks

I have join hands with daring-cooks-challenges to tell something about our Indian cusine. It made me feel special and Indians are very fond of snacks. We like munching something with our evening Tea/ coffee. Come lets fry some pakoras and bondas to enjoy with our family. I got this recipe from my mother which she has got from her mother.
The beauty of this recipe is that you can make possible changes with the ingredients which available in your region.
The flour we use to make these pakoras are basically made of gram flour. In some countries you may not get this gram flour, so you can alter this with powdered corn meal. There will be only a slight change in the texture but moreover no change in taste.

If you wish to use gram flour then you can buy them in online stores.You can make these pakoras very quickly. No need to do any preparations.

Cauliflower pakora

Servings: makes 1 bowl

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 3-4 mins

Serve hot

Ingredients

Cauliflower- 1 cup, clean and cut into thin long strips*

Ginger garlic paste- ½ tsp

Chick pea flour/ powdered corn meal- 1/2 cup

corn starch - 2 tbsp

Paprika/ red chilly powder- ½ tsp

Garam masala- ¼ tsp

cumin powder- ¼ tsp

Water- ¼ cup

Salt- ¼ tsp

Oil for frying

Directions:

Soak the cauliflower florets in a bowl of water with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder for 10 mins, drain them and cut into thin long strips.

In a clean bowl add chick pea flour/ yellow corn flour( powdered corn meal), white corn flour, paprika/red chilly powder, cumin powder, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala and salt mix well. Add water and mix it with hands till the mixture makes a thick batter without any lumps. You can use balloon whisk to mix the batter. Set aside for 5 mins and heat ¼ th of oil in a frying pan till it reaches 200°F. Now slow down the fire into medium heat and dip the cauliflower into the batter to coat completely, put them in oil one by one and fry them for 4-5 mins till it fries in golden brown.

Note:

1.The mixture should not be too much watery and the consistency should be sticky.

2. Heat oil in 200°F and slow down the fire when you add cauliflower or the outside will get burn and inside will remain raw.

3. The depth of oil should be 1/4th of the frying pan.

3. No need to add food colour in this but we actually add them in original recipe. The colour in paprika/ red chilly powder is well enough.

4. you can use any vegetable or meat to make these pakoras.

Cut the pieces into thin long strips

Batter to dip cauliflower

Recipe 2:

Chicken pakora

Servings: makes 1 bowlPreparation time: 10 minsCooking time: 5-7 mins

Ingredients

Finely minced chicken – 1 cup

Ginger-garlic paste- ½ tsp

Paprika/red chilly powder- ½ tsp

Cumin powder- ¼ tsp

Pepper powder- a pinch

Salt to taste

Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp

Chick pea flour/ yellow corn flour (powdered corn meal)- ¼ cup

Corn starch - 1 tbsp

Garam masala- ¼ tsp*

Ajwain/ thyme- a pinch

Oil for frying

Directions:

In a bowl add chick pea flour/ yellow corn flour ( powdered corn meal), ginger-garlic paste, paprika/ red chilly powder, cumin powder, pepper powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, ajwain/ thyme, corn starch , salt mix the powders well to combine. Add them to the minced chicken and mix well. The moisture in chicken is enough to coat the powders all over or sprinkle some water to coat the powders in chicken mixture. Set them aside for 5 mins. Fill ½ of the pan with oil and heat till it reaches 200 °F and reduce the flame to medium heat. Take some chicken mixture and put them here and there by pinching with hands in hot oil. Fry them for 4-5 mins till it cooks well and reaches golden brown colour. You can grind the garam masala and store in an airtight container for over 6 months.If chick pea flour isn’t available you can use corn meal by grind them into fine powder.You can keep the batter/mixture in fridge for 2-3 days. Keep them outside for an hour before frying.Enjoy the piping hot pakoras with Tea/ coffee.

This is the traditional evening snack for Indians. You can substitute and vegetables or meat to make this recipe. We south Indians will prepare this snack for lunch too. The pakoras will go well with sambhar rice and curd rice. These fritters and pakoras has its own position in a South Indian wedding meal.

NOTE:

1. You can replace chicken with meat, fish or shrimp.

2. If you are using fish or shrimp avoid ajwain/ thyme and use aniseeds instead.

minced chicken

Chicken pakora

Recipe 3:RAVA BONDA ( semolina fritters)

Servings: 10-15 frittersPreparation time: 30 minutesCooking time: 3 minutes

Ingredients

semolina- 100 gms

flour- 50 gms

crushed nuts- 1 tbsp

cardamom powder- a pinch

condensed milk- 2 tbsp

sugar- ½ cup

salt a pinch

ripen banana- ¼ cup, mashed

water- ⅓ cup

Directions:

In a large bowl add semolina and water mix well and set them aside for 20 mins till the semolina absorbs water completely and bloom well. Now add in sugar, flour, crushed nuts, cardamom powder, condensed milk, salt, mashed banana mix well with a balloon whisk without any lumps. Set them aside for 10 more mins.

Heat 3/4th of oil in a deep fried pan till it reaches 200°c. Now use an ice cream scoop or a small ladle and pour the batter into the oil. The bondas will cook immediately and puff up gently turn them back and cook well on both sides. The flame should be in medium heat or it will crisp outside and raw inside. When the bondas fried well drain them and put them in an oil absorbent paper and serve hot……