Golden Glorious Pakodas

Hello folks!!!

Hostel life is very different from being at home. You learn to become independent and have lots of fun-group studies, parties for no reason, group dances and midnight chit-chattering. We always wait for tea time once our classes get over and rush to our rooms to get our mugs and go to the canteen to fill our hungry stomachs. But whenever we find that everything got over before we arrived, we are not that heart-broken because that gives us an excuse to go out for a long evening walk with our friends and eat golden brown pakodas!!!

Today, mom made some crispy, golden-brown pakodas, whose aroma reminded me of those fun-filled days when we used to go for the evening walks on the busy roads of Bangalore overflowing with its variety of street food. We  never pay attention to such small things in life that give us great joy.

This wonderful memory makes me want to share with you the recipe to make the finest pakodas that will also be easy to prepare when you have a sudden guest or friend home and you love to make them feel special.

Pakodas are kind of fritters made from onions, gram flour, herbs and spices that are quick and easy to make and can be served with chutney.

Did you know?

The pakodas are one of the greatest Indian culinary exports that have gone all around the globe without anyone even recognizing that it is an Indian dish. In the 16^th century, Spanish and Portuguese ships would stop in India on their way to Japan to pick up the Indian cooks and experiment with Indian dishes. It was those cooks who taught the Europeans to love veggies and pakodas made from them. When these ships reached Japan, some of those cooks would get off and stay on to teach the ways of Indian cooking.

Many also say that the ‘tempura’ is the Japanese pakoda that was added to their cuisine by the Portuguese traders. Of course, their cuisine has undergone much refinement and is now sophisticated. They do not use gram flour like Indians, but instead they use wheat flour which makes their tempuras much crispier than pakodas.

Japanese Tempuras

 

 

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1.Onions – 2 cups

2.Gram flour – 1 ¼ cup

3.Green chilies – according to taste

4.Curry leaves/ Coriander leaves – 1 chopped spring

5.Carom seeds – ¼ tsp

6.Turmeric Powder – ¼  tsp

7.Salt to taste

8.Oil- to deep fry

INSTRUCTIONS

1.Slice the onions thin and long and add chilies, curry leaves and salt to a mixing bowl and mix the ingredients.

2.Squeeze the onions to remove any liquid from them so that they become crispy when fried.

3.Add the gram flour, carom seeds, salt and turmeric powder and add the onions to this mixture to coat them.

4.Add 2 tbsp water in order to make the mixture less dry and mix.

5.The dough must be tight, yet not soggy to avoid it from absorbing oil while frying.

6.To deep fry the pakodas,put them into the frying pan only when the oil is hot.

7.Serve hot with some chutney or tomato sauce or just devour them right away !!!