Pakora recipe, and a besan collection

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I love cooking with with dal (legume) flours! They're among the

greatest pleasures

of Indian cooking for me. There's a collection of 160 besan (gram

flour) recipes at

www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?foodido=12663,13451,15601 & title=gramflour

 

Here's my pakora recipe, which is fairly similar to theirs but includes

lime, ginger

and some onion and bell pepper. I know these are traditionally a snack

food in India,

but as a non-Indian, I tend to eat them as a meal; they're certainly

nutritious enough.

 

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Title: PAKORAS

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Keywords: main dishes, vegan, hors d'oeuvre, beans, chiles,

 

3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or other whole-wheat flour (traditionally

it would be fine semolina, but this is better!)

1 Tbsp. canola oil

1 1/4 cup besan (gram flour)

1 cup fresh snow peas, cut up -OR- 3/4 c. frozen peas, thawed

Half a large sweet potato, diced fine

-OR- 1 smallish carrot -OR- 3/4 c. winter squash

1 medium potato, peeled, diced small

1/2 small or 1/4 large bell pepper (capsicum), seeded and finely diced

2 Tbsp. finely diced onion

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon salt

Powdered red chiles, to taste (see below)

1 Tbsp. grated or minced fresh ginger.

OPTIONAL: 1 tsp. Patak's red curry paste -OR- garam masala

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 tsp. powdered coriander seed

Warm water

Rounded 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon lime juice

1/2 tsp. lime zest (optional but good!)

 

About the powdered chiles: I like these fairly hot, so instead of

cayenne, I often use

homegrown Thai, Filipino or north Mexican chiles if I have them,

powdered in a blender.

If I have/ chiles de arbol/, though, I'll use those in preference to

anything else, despite

the fact they aren't very hot; the nutty taste and fine aroma are just

wonderful, and an

enticement to add more.

 

Combine flour and oil and mix well. Slowly add the the besan,

stirring. Add salt,

turmeric, chiles, cumin and coriander.

 

Add warm water slowly to make a fairly thick batter. It should be just

thin enough

to be pourable. Add the ginger, curry paste, lime zest and vegetables.

 

Meanwhile, heat enough oil for deep-frying in a heavy, smallish pot on a

medium

flame, or a deep-fryer on medium setting. (Or see below.) To see if the

oil is hot

enough, drop a dab of batter in. If the temperature is OK, it should

float slowly to

the surface. If it comes up fast, it's too hot; if it sinks, too cool.

 

Sprinkle baking soda over batter, breaking up any lumps with your

fingers, and stir;

then add lime juice and stir. Using two tablespoons, drop dollops of

fritter mixture

into the oil. Don't fry too many at once. When fritters rise, turn them

over and fry

until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

 

OR: You can shallow-fry these as patties. As above, don't do too many at

a time, and

let any oil you add during the process heat up before adding more

fritters.

Serve with iced tea and something tangy-sweet; I like pickled beets, or

a grapefruit,

avocado and red onion salad with honey-mustard dressing. Also good

with plain

whole-milk yogurt for dipping,

 

In place of any of the veggies in the recipe, you can substitute your

favorites. Kohlrabi.

shredded cabbage, broccoli, celeriac, cucumber (fleshy part) and

cauliflower are all

great; so is nearly any kind of radish, from mild to very hot.

SOURCE: This is my version of a classic.

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