Pakora Recipe

A pakora is a close relation to the onion bhaji in that it uses the same thick batter for coating and is deep fried. The essential difference is that bhajis contained chopped vegetables shaped into a fritter and that pakoras tend to be larger.

Pakoras are street food and are meant to be eaten in the hand. The secret is to size your vegetables so that they hold a decent amount of batter – but not too much – and still be delicious to eat. Typical pakora ingredients include onion rings, cauliflower and broccoli heads, mushrooms, carrot sticks, large (mild) whole chillies, parsnip, mooli (a type of Indian radish) and sliced potatoes. You will need to at least part-cook the harder vegetables before battering. Uncooked king prawns (shrimp) and thin slices of raw chicken breast can also be used.
This is a Punjabi version of The same recipe can be used for onion bhajis.

Pakora Batter Mix
100 gms (4 oz) besan or gram flour
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground chilli powder
1-2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh methi (fenugreek) or coriander leaves, finely chopped
½ teaspoon baking powder
A selection of vegetables cut into suitable shapes and sizes
oil for deep frying

Sieve the flour into a bowl, add the chilli powder, baking soda and enough water to make a thick batter. Beat it until smooth then leave for at least half an hour – a couple of hours would be better. When you're ready, add the garlic, green chillies and chopped leaves into the mix and stir well. One by one, drop your vegetable pieces and coat in batter.
Heat a pan until the oil is hot but not quite smoking. Gently drop in your pakoras (not more than 3-4 at a time or else the cooking temperature drops) and cook until golden brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon, drain on kitchen towel and serve piping hot.
That's the yummiest Pakora Recipe I know.