Life Without Alu?: Pyaz Ke Pakore (Onion Fritters)

This recipe is dedicated to my dear friend and confidante Vicky.

Going to Vicky and Calvin’s place on Thanksgiving is a tradition for us. The first time I was invited to their home I was new to this country. When I met Vicky I instantly knew that we could bond. Vicky is a very nice person and she has a gentle personality, just being with her for an hour and talking about various things makes me feel so full of joy and light hearted. She is a very good listener and she has always given me good suggestions. Both Vicky and Calvin are very affectionate and kind and love spending time with us. Before I moved out, we used to have a lunch dates every Friday and Vicky and I used to spend hours talking. I think that’s how I regenerated my interest in reading once again because most of our discussions used to be about different books.

I believe people bond more when they have the same tastes especially if the food preferences are same. Both Vicky and Calvin love Indian food so we always try to cook something from the Indian cuisine for them. Earlier when we were in Tuscaloosa whenever we would invite them over we used to prepare curries, pulao and Indian desserts for them, which they truly enjoyed.

This photo was taken at a housewarming party in Tuscaloosa. I wanted to prepare some finger food so I baked some Jalapeno Cheddar cheese bread, Sweet Potato with Red Bell Peppers and fried some Pyaz ke Pakore. Debarshi made some Cilantro Chutney and arranged some Strawberry and Whipped Crème as dessert. Calvin loved the pakora and chutney and that’s why this year I prepared this as a thanksgiving treat from our side. Well now through this blog I can share the recipe with them so that they can try it on their own.

Now for those who don’t know Pakoras (also called Pakori), it is a fried snack like a fritter. I think the smaller sized ones are called Pakori (which are prepared by dropping the batter using a spoon) while the bigger ones are called pakoras (which are prepared by dropping the batter using a scoop). They can be prepared with any vegetable like potato, cauliflower, chili or onion. We Bengalis prepare pakoras with eggplant as well which we call beguni (in Bengali eggplant is known as begun, hence the name). I have also had Chicken pakoras and Paneer pakoras and although the preparation remains more or less the same the taste changes with every vegetable or main ingredient.

So to prepare pakoras first you need to select a vegetable or meat as your main ingredient, this will be dipped in a batter of gram flour (besan) mixed with tangy spices. If you are making chicken pakoras make sure to use chicken strips or cubes. You may have to add some additional spices like Garam masala/ Tandoori masala/ Biryani masala to enhance the taste. If you are using Paneer cut it into cubes as well, a medium sized cube is good, as it will get properly cooked when deep-fried. For vegetables, cut them into thick slices. Pakoras can be prepared by frying them once although they taste better when fried twice. They should be crisp on the outside and soft to crisp on the inside. If I want to fry them twice then I have to ensure that the first time I fry them they are only golden in color. Then I drain them on a paper towel and allow them to cool down a bit. After that I press each pakora lightly using my palms or with a bowl. At this stage any uncooked batter inside the pakora will ooze out. Then I fry them again till golden brown in color.

It’s the simple preparation of this yummy snack, which makes it my favorite. Back in Delhi when I was working (and was not a good cook like now) sometimes I used to prepare pakoras for my friends. I hope Shamim and Amar remember those snack break surprises. I would ask them for a cup of tea and when they used to come to the break room looking forward for a cup of tea and some chitchat I would bring out the pakoras and serve them. It was like a “oh I didn’t expect this!” moment. Then we would finish the tea and go back to our desks and resume work. It used to be a secret snack time between the friends.

I use several tips to make sure that there are no accidents while deep-frying food. Also these tips save time and are very useful. I will soon include these tips under “How to know when the oil is hot enough to deep fry” and “How to deep-fry food with confidence”.

Pyaz ke Pakoras can be eaten with rice and dal (lentils) or with khichuri (vegetable and rice gumbo) as a side dish but they are usually eaten as an appetizer so chutney is a must. I will soon add a chutney recipe, which usually is prepared by Debarshi, and it completes the dish.

In India we have the monsoon season when it rains almost everyday and the real fun of eating these pakoras is during that time. Take a cup of hot steaming tea and pair it with these pakoras, sit on the porch and enjoy the treat. Yes that is absolutely divine. Debarshi and I have made our own tradition of enjoying this remarkable appetizer and that is during the football game weekend. This is a simple finger food, easily prepared and doesn’t require a whole bunch of spices and stuff, which gives me the advantage of preparing it while never loosing a touchdown moment. I usually prepare a little more batter than is required and dip different vegetables in it to prepare different types of Pakoras.

I hope you will try these pakoras and enjoy them. You can find the Gram Flour, Green Chilies and Chat masala at your local Indian store. I will also add another of my favorite pakora recipe “Alu loshun er bora (Potato with Garlic pakoras) soon.

So what do you say? “Bring your taste buds back to life.”

Ingredients:

Onion - thinly sliced, 2 cups
Green Chilies - chopped, 1 to 2
Chili Powder – ¼ teaspoon (only if you want it hot)
Baking Soda - a pinch
Besan (Gram Flour) – ¾ cup
Chaat Masala - 1 teaspoon
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Oil - for deep-frying (about 6 cups)

Directions:

Using a big strainer, strain the Besan so that any lumps are removed.
Add the spices in the Besan (Green Chilies, Chili Powder, Baking Soda and Chat masala). Do not add water at this stage.
Apply Salt on the Onions, mix well and keep it aside for 10 minutes. Onions have water in them and applying salt helps to remove that moisture thus making the pakoras crispy.
Now sprinkle the Besan and mix well. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water or just enough to make the batter and mix it properly with the onion slices.
Drop this mixture into hot oil using a small scoop or spoon.
Deep-fry the pakoras till light golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
If you are frying them twice make sure to press each pakora lightly using your palms or with a bowl. At this stage any uncooked batter inside the pakora will ooze out. Then you can fry them again till golden brown in color.
Serve hot with chutney.

These two photos were taken at this year's Thanksgiving at Vicky and Calvin's place.

The thing I am most thankful while eating the Thanksgiving dinner is Elastic Waistbands.

I am thankful to have friends who take eating as seriously as I do.

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1 comment:

Debjani Moitra24 March 2019 at 12:02
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