Pakora

Ingredients

Batter

• 250 ggram flour, besan
• 2 tbsprice flour or cornflour
• 1 tspajwain, carom seed
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground coriander
• ½ tspturmeric
• 1 tspred chilli powder
• 1 tspsalt
• ¼ tspbicarbonate of soda
• about 200 ml cold water

Vegetables

• 2onions, sliced
• 2potatoes, thinly sliced
• 1aubergine, sliced
• 200 gspinach leaves
• 2green chillies
• 1 bunchcoriander, chopped
• cauliflower florets

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• imli chutney, tamarind
• green mint chutney
• raita
• sliced onion and lemon

Directions

1. Sift the gram flour, which clumps badly in the bag. Mix the besan with the rice flour, spices, salt and bicarbonate. The rice flour or cornflour is what makes pakoras stay crisp rather than going soft within minutes, and it is worth including.
2. Use cold water and add it slowly. The batter should coat a spoon thickly and cling to the vegetables rather than running off.
3. Whisk it hard for 3 or 4 minutes. Let the batter rest 15 minutes. Salt the sliced onions separately and let them stand 10 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid.
4. Heat the oil to 170°C (340°F), which is deliberately moderate. Test it with a drop of batter, which should sink briefly and then rise steadily, sizzling but not spitting furiously.
5. Dip the vegetables in the batter and drop them in carefully, a few at a time. Do not crowd the pan.
6. Fry 3 to 4 minutes until pale golden, then lift them out and drain them. Raise the oil to 190°C (375°F) and fry them again for 1 to 2 minutes until deep golden and properly crisp.
7. Drain them on a rack rather than paper, so the steam escapes instead of softening the underside. Serve immediately, hot, with tamarind and mint chutneys and sliced raw onion. They must be eaten within minutes, which is why they are made to order at street stalls.

Technique

• Almost anything can be fried this way: paneer, chicken, chillies, bread, egg.
• The batter can be made an hour ahead and whisked again before use.
• Leftovers can be crisped in a hot oven, though they are never quite the same.

Substitutions

• Cornflour in place of rice flour.
• A pinch of baking powder instead of bicarbonate of soda.

Variations

• Pyaz pakora, made with onion only.
• Palak pakora, with whole spinach leaves.
• Pakora kadhi, simmered in a yoghurt gravy.

History

Ramadan iftar essential and monsoon teatime snack, scooped by weight from vast karahis on Pakistani streets.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pakora?

Pakora is a snack from Pakistan: vegetables dipped in spiced gram-flour batter and deep-fried in bubbling oil. Ramadan iftar essential and monsoon teatime snack, scooped by weight from vast karahis on Pakistani streets.

How long does Pakora take to make?

Pakora takes 25 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Pakora?

Yes, within limits. Cornflour in place of rice flour. A pinch of baking powder instead of bicarbonate of soda.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pakora?

Sift the gram flour, which clumps badly in the bag. Mix the besan with the rice flour, spices, salt and bicarbonate. The rice flour or cornflour is what makes pakoras stay crisp rather than going soft within minutes, and it is worth including.