Onion
Pakoda is a very popular Indian vegetarian (vegan)
appetizer. This is one of those quick recipes that you can use when
company comes calling. These crunchy onion fritters are a great way to
show off your skills in vegetarian cooking, and can also be
served
as a snack.
These fritters are a healthy snack food, despite being deep-fried,
because
they are made with besan or chickpea flour which is rich in protein and
fiber.
Servings: 4 Cooking Time: 20
minutes
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups besan (split bengal gram flour)
2 medium onions, cut into inch-long, thin pieces
9-10 green chillies, finely chopped (reduce the
number of chillies if you want the onion pakodas to be mild)
1 teaspoon red
chilli powder
15-20 curry leaves, finely chopped
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste
Preparation
Heat the oil in a deep-frying pan on medium high.
In a bowl, add salt and red chilli powder to the
besan flour and mix it with 4 to 5 teaspoons of hot oil; then add the
chopped onions, chillies, and curry leaves.
Add just enough water to this mixture to bind all the
ingredients.
Take a spoonful of this mixture and drop it into the
oil. Repeat until you have enough fritters for the oil.
Fry them until golden brown.
Serve the appetizers plain or with mint dip, tamarind
dip or
ketchup and hot masala
chai or coffee.
Cooking Tip
If you add water to all of the mixture at once, the batter will become
watery (as the onions release water) making the next batch of onion
pakodas soft. To make sure all fritters turn out nice and crunchy,
add water to half the mixture, finish using this; then
add water to the remaining mixture.
