Sunday, November 02, 2008

Methi peanut pakoda

The British love their onion bhajis. This I know because of the number of times that I’ve made bhajis, on specific request, as a starter every time we’ve had friends around for a home-cooked “authentic Indian” (meal, naturally).

This time I decided to vary it just a bit with fresh methi and peanuts, hoping that they wouldn’t be rejected as “not proper bhajis” - and what do you know, the pakodas were such a big hit that the consensus was that I should “always do it this way”. Huh. So much for onion bhaji love – a love about as lasting and sincere as the tears raised by the fumes from the onions! *grin*

I have to say that the bhajis really were exceptional, though – the slight bitterness of the methi, the crunch of the peanuts and the sweetness from the onions… I guess I should not have been surprised that loyalties were transferred from the plain onion bhajis to these!

Recipe for:
Methi peanut pakoda


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Ingredients:

2 cups fresh methi leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped
1 cup raw red-skinned peanuts
2 medium onions, sliced thin
2 medium potatoes, sliced into thin sticks
3 tbsp rice flour
1 cup besan (gram flour/chickpea flour/kadala maavu) + more as required
1 tsp cumin-coriander powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder
2 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
A few tbsp water

Method:

1. Put the vegetables and peanuts into a large bowl and mix well.

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2. In another bowl, mix the flours, spices and salt together.

3. Heat enough oil in a kadai or deep fryer. Meanwhile, add the vegetables to the flour and mix together with 3-4 tbsp water. Adjust the gramflour/water combination until the vegetables are just held together with the batter.

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It should not be too thick or too watery.

4. Pinch off small pieces of the dough and put in the hot oil a few at a time, taking care not to crowd the surface.

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5. Fry on medium high heat, turning the pakodas with a slotted spoon, until they are crisp and golden brown.

6. Drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with any chutney.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

My name is Indhu and I am a regular reader of your food blog. Infact, I have started one and you are the inspiration for that :)
I had a couple of questions about the look of your blog (widgets, etc) and I was wondering how I can contact you regarding that. If you are okay with me contacting you, can u please give me your email id?

Thanks,
Indhu

P.S: I love your writing - the part other than the recipe :)
The recipe part - obviously awesome!

Raaga said...

Hmmm... I made the plain version once. http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2008/01/piyava-baje-onion-fritters.html

Just once... and I will try your version now... methi is back ins eason :-)

The Taste Tinkerer said...

Aahhh...I'm craving for these bhajis now....yummy!!

news.linq.in said...

Methi peanut pakodas are looking very crispy & mouthwatering!
& you have also demonstrated so well followed with step by step photographs.
Good Post.

Regards,
Vibha.

Unknown said...

They look too good! Perfect with a cuppa tea..

mummyjaan said...

They look delicious. Too bad this is one recipe I can't try because of the allergies running in our home. I will add methi leaves the next time and see how they turn out. Thanks for the idea!

Vijitha said...

Hi ya
This is my first time here. U have a lovely space...loved ur writing style...

Pakora looks gr8..chai , pakora and few drizzles - perfect day!

Jaya M said...

Looks really great .
will try it once for sure.
hugs and smiles

Anonymous said...

Looks amazing!

Sunshinemom said...

My office canteen waala makes this once a fortnight and we hog!! Sometimes ordering a second one too:). No wonder you are requested to prepare these - they are terribly addictive!

anudivya said...

Hey, left you a comment on the "Carrot Rice" recipe that you posted long back. pls check. It might be important.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I was reading ur blog posts and found some of them to be very good.. u write well.. Why don't you popularize it more.. ur posts on ur blog ‘Food, In The Main...’ took my particular attention as some of them are interesting topics of mine too;

BTW I help out some ex-IIMA guys who with another batch mate run www.rambhai.com where you can post links to your most loved blog-posts. Rambhai was the chaiwala at IIMA and it is a site where users can themselves share links to blog posts etc and other can find and vote on them. The best make it to the homepage!

This way you can reach out to rambhai readers some of whom could become your ardent fans.. who knows.. :)

Cheers,

ammani said...

Waiting for update...hurry up, please!

sra said...

Shyam, computer troubles still? Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

I am a regular reader of your blog and have commented exactly once before. Your blog is an exact guide for me to cook and I love it.

I regularly cook your chootidal rice now(one pot nutritious meal)
and so many other stuff. Love your crystal clear step by step process and also that you don't ask us to use exotic stuff.

I was just wondering what happened, is this blog going to abandoned?:)
Please do comeback.

-Sachita