Vegetable Pakoras

Making Vegetable Pakoras

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1. Toss the sliced onion, grated potato and spinach with the salt in a large bowl and leave for 10 minutes. They will release a surprising amount of liquid.

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2. Add the green chillies, ginger, ajwain, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, chilli powder and fresh coriander and mix well.

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3. Sprinkle over the gram flour, rice flour and bicarbonate of soda and mix with your hands, squeezing as you go, until the vegetables are coated in a thick paste.

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4. Add water only a tablespoon at a time, and only if needed — the batter should just barely hold the vegetables together, not flow.

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5. Heat the oil to 175°C / 350°F.

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6. Drop rough, craggy tablespoons of the mixture into the oil, five or six at a time. Do not shape them into neat balls; the irregular edges are what get crisp.

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7. Fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until deep golden and audibly crisp.

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8. Drain on a rack, season with a little extra salt and chilli powder, and serve immediately with mint chutney.

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Small Things That Help

• Rice flour is the secret to lasting crunch; it absorbs less oil than gram flour alone.
• Fry a test pakora first. If it falls apart, add another tablespoon of gram flour.
• For extra crispness, fry once at 160°C / 320°F, rest 5 minutes, then fry again at 190°C / 375°F for 90 seconds.

Swaps and Variations

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

What to Serve with Vegetable Pakoras

• Masala chai on a rainy afternoon
• Serve with mint-coriander chutney and tamarind sauce
• Follow with a light dal

Storing & Reheating Vegetable Pakoras

Best immediately. Keeps 1 day; re-crisp at 200°C / 390°F for 6 minutes.

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (how much frying oil the food takes up cannot be known from the recipe). Why some recipes have none.