Pakoras, Patties and Hindi

The word pakoṛā is derived from Sanskrit पक्ववट pakvavaṭa-

Pakoras or sometimes called Bahjji are traditionally  Indian street food snacks and made of a variety of vegetable pieces in a besan or chickpea batter and lightly fried such as  spinach-palak, onion- pyaaz, cauliflower - gobi, capsicum - shimla mirch, eggplant- baingan, potato - Aloo or whatever you wish....kuch bhi chaho
They are fun to make, great to eat as snacks or party food and at the same time one can learn Hindi
Sometimes pakoras are made from a mix of vegetables like a patty see recipe for Aloo Tikka.

Pakoras

• 1 cup besan-chickpea flour
• 3 tablespoons rice flour 
• 1 tablespoon of coarsely ground coriander powder -dhania
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds -jeera
• 2 chopped green chilies- mirchi
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro - hara dhania
• 1 teaspoon salt to taste
• 3/4 cup of water -paani
• oil to fry -thel pronounced like whale with a T instead of W
• Choice of vegetables 

Try thinly sliced potato, parboiled small cauliflower florets, onion rings, handfuls of spinach leaves or capsicum pieces

Mix all the dry things together - besan, rice flour, coriander powder, and salt. 

Make a batter like pancake batter by adding water slowly

Add the green chilies and cilantro and mix altogether

Heat the oil in a pan on medium high heat.

The frying pan should have at least 1-2 inches of oil

Dip the vegetable slices in the batter one at a time and slowly drop in frying pan.

Fry the pakoras in small batches. The pakoras will take about 4 to 5 minutes to cook.

Turn them occasionally. Fry the pakoras until both sides are golden-brown.

Repeat until all cooked

They should be crisp, golden brown, drained then served with mint coriander chutney or date and tamarind chutney

  Aloo Tikka 

• 3 big potatoes cooked
• sea salt to taste
• ground black pepper
•  2/3 cup frozen peas defrosted
• 1/2 tbs minced ginger
•   finely chopped coriander leaves
• pinch garam masala
• red chili powder to taste 
• 1 tsp coarsely ground dry roasted cumin seeds
• Oil

Mash the peas, using a fork.

Combine the stuffing ingredients cumin, salt, ginger, coriander leaves  red chilli and garam masala but  not the oil mash briefly. 

Divide into 10 portions and reserve.

Peel the cooked potatoes and mash them very finely into smooth mashed potatoes. 

Add salt and pepper and knead until properly mixed. 

Divide into 10 portions.Take each portion of potato mixture and make a ball.

One at a time, gently flatten each ball into a round patty of about 1/2-inch thick and place a portion of stuffing in the center and fold the edges together. 

Flatten it into a 2-inch patty. Repeat for the remaining portions. 

Heat 1 tsp. oil in a non-stick pan over a low heat. 

Pan-fry until golden brown on both  sides over very low heat.

Serve with chutney or tomato sauce if you have nothing else but definitely not sweet chilli. 

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/10/street-food-vendors-from-around-world.html

Mouth watering, hot chilli potatoes