Pakora Recipe

I originally got this recipe from the side of a packet of gram flour several years ago. I have adjusted it quite a lot over time to make it more like the pakora we get from Indian take-away shops.

 Ingredients: 

• 8oz Gram Flour
• 1tbsp Sesame Seeds
• 1tbsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tbsp Ground Coriander
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1 tsp Salt
• Generous splash of Tobasco Sauce (or a tsp of chilli powder or dried chillies)
• 1 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
• 7 fl oz Warm Water

• Vegetable Oil for deep frying.

• 1 onion (finely diced)
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables

Directions:

• Sieve the flour and mix with the other dry ingredients

• Add the water a little at a time until you have a thick batter (you probably won't need all the water)

• Stir in the tomato ketchup and tobasco 

• Mix in the onion and veg, stir well until it is evenly coated.

• Heat an inch of oil in a heavy bottomed pot. The oil needs to be really hot but not smoking (NEVER leave a pot of oil unattended - a lesson learned after I had a visit from 14 fireman in my small flat one equally embarrassing and petrifying afternoon)

• Drop the mixture in 1 heaped tsp at a time, several will fit in the pot at once just try not to let them touch at first.

• Give the pakoras a bit of a stir while they are cooking, so they get evenly brown (alternatively you could use double the amount of oil, but I think that is a bit of a waste)

• The pakoras should be cooked in about 4 mins, when they are a lovely red-brown colour.

• Scoop the pakoras out with a slotted spoon and place them on some kitchen towel while cooling and continue with the next batch.

There is enough in this mixture to be a buffet or side dish for up to 8 people, They keep well for a few days in an airtight box in the fridge and make a tasty packed lunch addition.

I like them with a simple dip - my favourite is equal parts mayonnaise and tomato ketchup, but there are numerous dips that pakora goes well with.

Alternatives:

Instead of the onion and veg you could use...

2 onions finely chopped
or

Strips of cooked chicken breast
or

1 onion and a large finely diced potato

or
make the batter a little thinner dip in individual mushrooms, leaves of  spinach, or bite-size chunks of broccoli or cauliflower. 

NB. Gram flour is made from ground chickpeas. It isn't particularly easy to source. We usually buy our gram flour from the Chinese cash-and-carry or from Asian food shops. Most recently I got some from a huge ASDA Wallmart store. You might have some luck in smaller fancy supermarkets in the 'ethnic foods' section. I have seen pakora recipes that say you can use ordinary plain flour instead but I don't agree, I think you should wait until you can get some real gram flour.