Mixed Vegetable Pakodas /Pakoras /Fritters

One can easily make this any day in Seattle and more than 50% of the time can’t go wrong with it – cos its always pakoda season here in the Emerald City. These pakodas are probable the only thing that I cooked during the weekend. This saturday AJ and I ran/walked our first half marathon – Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon (I walked and AJ ran).

My timings were not great but im glad I managed to walk 13.1 miles within the time frame allotted, with no traffic chasing me ( yes, I came to know that there is actually a time limit till which the traffic is stopped on some of the main roads and then they are allowed normally – imagine trying to walk.run with cars honking behind you!!) with little – almost no training at all. We kept blaming the rain for a lousy day to go out for a run and then suddenly realized that we had only 3 more weeks to go! Still managed to do only two decent walk/runs and a few small ones thrown in here and there. Towards the end the aim was to complete without any major bodily injury. We had three more of our friends who had signed up for this and it is purely because of the company that I managed to finish this. Thanks everyone who encouraged and supported us in this! So because of this I was totally wiped out and we mostly ate out or managed with leftovers during the weekend except for these pakodas which I made for tea on Sunday. It was a perfect end to our lazy weekend except for the marathon of course.
 
Pakodas are fritters that can be made with onions, eggplant, spinach, mixed vegetables, pretty much anything and are generally savory. Umm actually I don't think I know of any non-savory pakodas.

Mixed Vegetable Pakodas – The Recipe

Cauliflower florets , really small florets to make sure they cook while deep fried – 1/2 cup Onions, sliced thinly – 1/2 cup Green bell peppers, cut into thin strips – 1/2 cup Besan / Chickpea flour / gram flour – 1 cup All purpose flour – 1/4 cup Fennel seeds or Ajwain (carom seeds), use any one – 1 tsp Red chilli powder / Cayenne – 3 tsp ( I used Kashmiri Chili powder for the bright color – use more of that as it is less hot that regular cayenne) Asafoetida – a pinch salt – to taste Canola or Vegetable Oil – to deep fry

Mix all the ingredients together with just a little water to bind them together. Do not add too much water or else it won’t crisp up. Heat oil to deep fry. Once hot enough, add the mix to it a little by little using a teaspoon. Deep fry till crisp. Drain on paper towels and serve hot with ketchup / chutneys and a hot cup of tea / coffee. Here I have served it with some chilli-garlic sauce by Maggi.