Vegetable Pakoras - Veg Fritters with chick pea flour

Vegetable Pakoras (Vegetable Fritters in Chick Pea batter) with Coriander Chutney

Recipe by Rinku Bhattacharya

Ingredients

11/2 cup chick pea flour (Besan)
½ cup rice flour
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ajwain (carom) seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
¾ cup cauliflower florettes
1 pepper cut into long slices
2 tbs chopped coriander leaves
Oil for frying (About 1.5 cups)

Method of Preparation

1. Mix the besan, rice flour, cumin, ajwain, and salt with water to form a medium batter

2. Add the vegetable, into the batter. We start with the pepper strips and when this is done, we add the cauliflower.

3. Heat the oil in a wok, you can test for heat with a breadcrumb.

4. Keep the oil on medium heat, add small amounts of the vegetables with the batter.

5. Fry till crisp, serve hot with chutney or ketchup.

Alternate vegetables for this preparation can be onions, tomatoes or spinach leaves.

Cilantro Chutney for Pakoras or Other Side Dishes.

1 bunch Cilantro leaves
Juice of 1.5 lemons
2 green chilies
1tbs cumin seeds toasted and ground
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar

Method of Preparation

Add all the ingredients into a blender and blend till smooth.
Stir and serve.

BTW, mix a tsp of this chutney with mayonaise for a nice sandwich spread with zing.