High Protein Chickpea Pakora Fritters: Part 2 of How to Save Money on Party Snacks

If all you know about east indian food It’s papadums and samosas, you’re gonna love pakoras – Fritters in the style of the East Indies. The dough is made of chickpea flour – known as “kiss“or “chana flour” in grocery stores in the East and West Indies, and “gramflour in english

Tea the filling is up to you: chopped vegetables of all kinds. Just be sure to use firm vegetables (i.e. stay away from delicate foods like snap peas, snap peas, celery, sprouts). I’m not a beer drinker myself, but just like with samosas, pakoras are said to be great with beer and therefore make a great party snack. Note, however, that pakoras are very high in protein. Don’t overdo it.

Ingredients:

• Besan/gram/chickpea flour (or grind your own with dried chickpeas using a coffee/spice grinder).
• Water to form a dough.
• Salt and black pepper, to taste.
• Crushed red pepper flakes (optional).
• 1/2 teaspoon mild curry powder or ground cumin. Don’t add too many spices, as they will tend to ruin the oil.
• Small onion(s), cut into eighths.
• Any combination of potato, eggplant, zucchini, cauliflower, all cut into large chunks. Keep in mind that the potato takes longer to cook than any other vegetable. So make the potato pieces smaller. I suppose you could also use (separately) large firm chunks of cheese.

Preparation:

• Place the gram flour or ground garbanzo beans in a mixing bowl.
• Add salt, pepper, chili flakes, and curry powder or cumin.
• Now slowly add about 1/4 cup of water at a time and mix with a fork. When you have a thick batter that is not runny, add another 1/8 cup of water and mix well. (Basically keep in mind that this dough is going to turn into hot oil. So the more runny it is, the more likely you are to get splattered with hot oil. But the mass should not be so thick that it dangles from the pieces of vegetables in drops.)
• Add all the diced raw vegetables to the batter and mix gently so that all the pieces are coated.
• If you used your hands, wash and dry them carefully. (As always, be careful with hot oil.)
• In a deep, heavy pot, heat 1 to 2 inches of cooking oil (canola or vegetable) over high heat. Try a small drop of dough. It should start cooking right away and float shortly after. Remove the test piece with a slotted spoon. (If you have a suitable food thermometer that can be placed in hot oil, the temperature should read about 350 F. If the oil is not hot enough, the fritters will absorb the oil and become greasy. If the oil is too hot, the outside of the fritters will burn while the inside will be raw. Remember not to fill the oil to the top of the pot, since you will need space for the fritters. Too many tablespoons of batter in the oil at one time not only reduces the temperature of the oil, but you also risk hot oil overflowing the pot, potentially starting a fire.)
• For best results, fry tablespoonfuls of batter and vegetables as individual “balls.” If you don’t have a deep fryer, or prefer shallow frying, use about 1/2 inch of cooking oil in a heavy cast-iron skillet. The latter produces flatter and denser fritters. The above method produces fluffier but crunchy puffy spheres. Cook the flat fritters over high heat until almost golden, about 3-4 minutes, then flip to cook the other side (about 3 minutes). (Note: These fritters tend to burn faster in a cast iron skillet, so you may need to reduce cooking time and/or heat up a bit.)
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the fritters and move them to a plate lined with a double layer of paper towels (kitchen paper).
• Let cool slightly for 1-3 minutes.

Presentation:

Serve with tamarind sauce, raita (sour cream with diced cucumber), mango chutney, sriracha hot sauce, plum sauce, or even ketchup.

(c) Copyright 2006-present, Raj Kumar Dash