Feeling a bit festive? Try these gram flour fritters with Indian chutney for a spicy evening indeed…
We all like to eat healthy for sure, but that doesn’t mean you can’t spice up your menu once in a while! This “cheat” meal is still balanced out by enough veggies to keep you on track! Sure, the oil will add in calories but count the benefits of vegetables, the raw chutney and the gram flour as well as the sheer comfort of biting into something hot, crispy and juicy – and the fritters win hands down.
So here are the basic Indian Gram Flour fritters (pakoras or bhajiya) as we call them, with a nice and spicy coriander-mint chutney to go along with them.
The Chutney
What you need:
A bunch of fresh coriander or parsley with the stems snipped off
A handful of mint or spearmint leaves
2 medium sized red onions
2-3 green chilies with the stems off -- you can add more or less depending on how hot you’d like the chutney to be.
6-7 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
Chop everything roughly so that it fits into your chopper (avoid using a blender, this chutney is best served slightly chunky). Zap for 2-3 minutes or till everything is one nice green mix. Empty out into a nice bowl and put it in the refrigerator – this spicy chutney is best served cool!
The Fritters
For the batter:
2 cups of besan (gram or chickpea flour)
Water to make a smooth, thick paste
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
½ tsp. Indian Garam Masala or Curry Powder
½ tsp. red chili powder (can use cayenne pepper too)
½ tsp. carom seeds (ajwain) – this acts as a digestive
1 tsp. garlic paste or ½ tsp. garlic powder
For the Filling:
Various vegetables – cauliflower or broccoli florets, thinly sliced eggplants and potatoes, onion rings, asparagus spears, sliced mushrooms work well. Diced cottage cheese (paneer) also works extremely well since the heat turns it melt-in-the-mouth soft.
You can also choose to appease the carnivore in you by using thinly sliced cooked chicken, raw fish fillets or even halved boiled eggs.
To make the fritters:
Blend the batter ingredients smooth till there are no lumps – make sure the batter is custard-thick and not runny and then, let it sit for 15-20 minutes.
Chop and prepare your vegetables meanwhile. If using raw veggies, sprinkle a little salt and red pepper on them to take away the blandness. Switch on your deep fryer if you have one; else heat 2-3 cups of oil in a thin-bottomed wok. The oil has to be hot – to test it drop in a dab of the batter: if it bubbles and rises to the surface, the oil is ready. Turn down the heat now.
Dip the filling – vegetable, cottage cheese, chicken, fish or egg in the batter, making sure it’s completely coated. Drop this, very gently, into the wok. Repeat this till your wok is swimming with fritters -- don’t overcrowd the wok, though. Flip the fritters once – the color should be a nice even golden – if it’s brown, it’s burnt. The trick is to let the oil cook and let the fritters turn crisp on slow or medium heat. Each batch should fry in about 4-6 minutes. Scoop out the fritters and place them on a tray to drain. Serve them piping hot, with spicy but cold chutney…
And there you have it, crispy pakoras with spicy chutney. Wonderful soul food that we Indians love to dig in on rainy days with steaming cups of chai (tea) – do write in with your feedback in the comments section below.
