Vegetable Pakoras

Vegetable Pakoras line up to take their turn on stage, alongside tamarind chutney.

It may come as a surprise to many people, but to make a batter for frying, you don't need eggs. Indian cuisine, while not always vegan, usually doesn't include eggs. Even without eggs, this batter for pakoras clings to the grated vegetables like white on rice.

I'm telling you, eggs are overrated.

You can find gram flour at any Asian food store, or at many well-stocked supermarkets. The spices are also widely available—if you cannot find garam masala, just leave it out, or make your own with a mixture of cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

I served this with a chickpea dish—recipe coming up later for that! Altogether, the two dishes, plus basmati rice, were ready in about an hour. Not bad for a day when I hiked 5 miles and didn't feel like going to a lot of effort over dinner.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, gram flour is high in protein and gluten-free.

Vegetable Pakoras

2 cups gram flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 cup water
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 medium potato, grated
1 carrot, grated
2 cups spinach, chopped
vegetable oil for frying

Combine dry ingredients. Stir in water to make a batter. Add the vegetables and stir.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet. (You'll need approximately a 1/2 inch of oil.) Drop the batter by tablespoons into the batter. Fry until light brown on each side--about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Serve with chutney as a side dish for Indian dishes.

*Gram flour is chickpea flour, also known as besan flour. You can find it in Indian food stores or in the international section of your supermarket. Do not mistake it for graham flour.

Comments

[Vasu]

Hello KathyF,

As always, I'm delighted by your recipe, and today more than usual because it's pakoras (yummmm). Lovely recipe.... I've never used carrots in pakoras before, but I can imagine they must be good! Pakoras are great, and if you're like me, you may be interested in checking out how many different ways they can be made, and what variation you like the best. (I like them all. Equally.)

So...if you feel like trying out some variations at any point, here's a couple of things I've tried out, at my mom's and mom-in-law's suggestions:

* Adding a couple of tablespoons of rice flour to the above batter makes for crisper pakoras. (mom)

* If you like just a tiny hint of a sour tang in the pakoras, a teaspoon or so of "amchur" / "aamchur" will do it for you (also found in Indian stores and the Indian section of grocery stores). It's dried and powdered raw mango. Awesome if you like slightly sour, and even better because it doesn't have the tartness of lemon. (mom in law)

Ooh, and a thinner version of the same batter without any of the veggies can be used for bhajia, a cousin of the pakora. Slices of practically any vegetable (especially potato, onion, eggplant, courgette, squash, and cauliflower) can be dipped into the mix and fried. (Cauliflower florets need to be a bit small.)

Yum. Lucky you!

Vasu (the Indian fan of your chocolate loaf)

[KathyF]

Vasu, thanks for your tips. I have rice flour and amchur, as it turns out, so I'll try those variations.

And yeah, I love just about anything fried. Must be the southern girl in me!