Recipes: Easy Mixed Vegetable Pakora

I make vegatable pakora often, because they always go down well at parties. Everyone loves fried food, don't they? And I swap around the vegetables I use, depending on what I have in at the time.

This I call the 'easy' version, because the spices used most people tend to have in their store cupboard (if they like cooking). Sometimes I go really wild and add some fenugreek or even fennel seeds, as well as extra chilli.

These are best eaten fresh and hot. They soften up as they cool down, although are still good, and so make a suitable packed lunch item or for picnics.

I didn't used to add cornflour into my pakora batter, but this was a tip I got from from Rhea Parsons of The 'V' Word, who says it helps crisp up the batter.

In fact, as I haven't included a cucumber dip/raita here to go with this pakora (and it is a great accompaniment), you could try Rhea's recipe for Cucumber Raita, which looks very delicious. Otherwise, a a sweet and spicy chutney like mango or lime pickle will go well, too.

Mixed Vegetable Pakora

Makes about 10-12 pieces

Approx 2½ cups /400g cooked, mixed vegetables (this batch used cauliflower, broccoli & potato)

1 cup / 125g gram (chick pea) flour

1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

½ red chilli

2 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander (cilantro)

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp chilli flakes

½ tsp salt

¾ cups / 340ml cold water

Approx 400ml sunflower oil for frying

1. Have your mixed vegetables almost cooked but make sure they have not gone soft. Set aside and allow them to cool before beginning to make your pakora batter.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the gram flour, cornflour, spices and salt. Then gradually add the water, until you have a thick pouring batter. Mix the vegetables into the batter in batches.

3. In a pan suitable for deep-frying, heat the oil on medium-high until it's hot enough that a teaspoon of batter sizzles when dropped in. Spoon dollops of batter (approximately golf ball-sized amounts) into the oil, about four at a time depending on your pan size (don't overcrowd it).

4. Allow the pakora to cook a few minutes on each side, turning around with tongs or a slatted spoon. Remove when crispy and brown both sides, and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up the grease.

5. When the pakora are cooked, serve with mango chutney or a vegan raita dip, made with soya yogurt, mint, cucumber and a touch of chilli.

Comments

[Ella]

Is there any substitute that could be made for the oil?
Or is this recipe relatively healthy?

[Andrea - Chocolate and Beyond]

Hi Ella - thanks for your comment!

I do think these need frying, although you could try to shallow fry, making the vegetables smaller in the recipe so they condense into patties which will be better for shallow frying.

As to being healthy or not - I think it depends on overall balance and how much fat you already eat? While I don't go overboard on fat generally, I am not concerned about eating a 'low-fat' diet as I believe satiation from fat is important so that we do not overeat, and it is also a necessary component in our diets.

Of course, you only need a couple of these to eat per person - so I would say try them out without worry, with lots of salad :)

[Emma]

Fabulous

[Andrea - Chocolate and Beyond]

Thanks Emma, and I do believe you have tried these at Easter :)

[Nina]

I'm very keen to try these as they look wonderful. Just wondering about the amount of water needed? You've written 3/4 cup and then 340ml. Assuming you are using 250ml as a 1 cup measurement; 3/4 cup would be 188ml. 340ml is more like 1 1/3 cups. Please, would you clarify this amount?
Many thanks, Nina

[Andrea - Chocolate and Beyond]

Hi Nina, thanks for your comment and apologies for the mistake! I have in my original notes 1½ cups of water - so depending on the size of the measuring cup (they seem to vary - I have two sets which are both different, and I use 240ml for one cup) it should therefore be 360ml.

However, try with a lesser amount and see what you think regarding the consistency of the batter? Let me know how it goes! I will make the correction in the recipe - thank you :)