1,000 Indian Recipes (88 page)

³
⁄
₄
cup dried yellow mung beans (dhulli mung dal), sorted and washed in 3 to 4 changes of water

1
¹
⁄
₂
tablespoons fennel seeds

1 tablespoon coriander

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon black peppercorns

5 whole cloves

2 black cardamom pods, seeds only

¹
⁄
₂
cup vegetable oil

¹
⁄
₄
teaspoon ground asafoetida

2 tablespoons chickpea flour

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

3 cups all-purpose flour

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground turmeric

¹
⁄
₄
cup lukewarm water, or as needed

2 to 3 cups peanut oil for deep-frying

1.
Soak the dal in water to cover by 2 inches, and drain. Then make the filling: In a food processor or a blender, process the dal to make a coarse paste. In a spice or a coffee grinder, coarsely grind together all the whole spices (fennel to cardamom).

2.
Heat
¹
⁄
₄
cup of the vegetable oil in a large nonstick wok or saucepan over medium-high heat and add the asafoetida, then the ground spices, and stir about 30 seconds. Mix in the chickpea flour and stir another 30 seconds.

3.
Add the dal paste and cook over medium heat, stirring and breaking any lumps, about 10 minutes. Add the salt and stir to mix well. Let cool and divide equally into 30 portions (about 1 tablespoon each). Make a ball of each portion and set aside. If the balls seem to fall apart, this means the filling is too dry; moisten it with 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water.

4.
Make the dough: In a medium bowl, using clean fingers, rub together the flour, turmeric, and the remaining
¹
⁄
₄
cup oil until well mixed. Add enough water to make a soft and pliable dough, adding a little at a time. Place the dough on a cutting board and pound lightly with a meat mallet about 2 minutes. Turn the dough over during the 2 minutes to pound different sections. This makes the dough very elastic. Divide the dough equally into 30 portions.

5.
Assemble the kachauries: In a small bowl, make a paste of 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1 tablespoon water and keep ready. Working with one portion of the dough at a time, with your fingers press out a 3-inch patty. Brush the top surface lightly with water and place one portion of the dal filling in the center. Lift the edges over the filling, bring them together and pinch to seal. Then gently push in the pinched edges down to make a slight depression in the center and to flatten the patty to 1-inch thick. Brush the entire kachauri lightly with the flour-water paste and set aside. Finish assembling all the kachauries. Cover with a clean, damp cotton kitchen towel and set aside.

6.
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over medium-high heat until it reaches 300°F to 325°F on a frying thermometer, or when a small piece of the dough dropped into the hot oil rises to the top after 15 to 20 seconds. Reduce the heat to medium and add the kachauries, adding as many as the wok can hold at one time without crowding, and fry slowly, turning only once after the bottom is golden-brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. When the other side is golden-brown, about 3 to 4 minutes more, remove from the wok with a slotted metal spatula and transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately, or let cool and refrigerate up to 15 days.

Variation:
Substitute for the yellow mung beans (dhulli mung dal) equal amounts of dried split yellow peas (peeli muttar dal) or green split peas (hari muttar dal), fresh green peas, or a mixture of cashews, almonds, and pistachios.

Fritters (
Pakorae
or
Bhajiae
)

Called
pakoras
(pronounced
pakauradha)
in the north or
bhajias
in the south and west, these are special batter-fried finger foods. Whether they are slices of vegetables,
paneer
cheese, chicken, lamb, or fish cloaked in a thin, crispy, spiced chickpea flour batter, or uneven balls of diced vegetables mixed with chickpea flour,
pakoras
are a unifying culinary phenomenon in India.

Served with any one or an array of puréed green, yogurt-based, or
sonth
(sweet and sour tamarind) chutneys, ideally all
pakoras
are meant to be eaten hot and crisp out of the wok, because most of them become soggy as they cool. The soggy ones, however, have their own following, especially in packed "on-the-go" meals—where the extra moisture can be soaked up when rolled in
chapatis
(whole-wheat griddle breads) or
paranthas
(griddle-fried breads), in pita pockets, in sandwiches, or when simply served over a bed of rice.

The cornerstone of all
pakoras
is chickpea flour, or
besan
as it is called in India. Chickpea flour is heavy and tends to compress under its own weight in a container, so it is crucial to sift it. Sifting gets rid of any lumps and incorporates air into the flour, for a smooth batter.

Make a test
pakora
first and adjust the batter accordingly, adding more chickpea flour or water, as needed. A thick batter will result in heavy and doughy
pakoras;
a thin batter will coat the vegetables poorly, forming a broken shell around them. Also, slap the batter-coated vegetables lightly along the sides of the bowl to remove all the excess batter before frying.

Sometimes
pakoras
are double-fried—if the pieces are large or dense or if they're not being served right away. For making in advance, all
pakoras
can be lightly fried, allowed to cool then refrigerated in an air-tight container or zip-closure bags about 5 days, or frozen up to 2 months. To reheat, bring them to room temperature and refry in hot oil. (Cold, refrigerated
pakoras
will immediately bring down the oil temperature and consequently make the
pakoras
absorb extra oil, so bringing them to room temperature is important.)

In this section, most recipes start with the basic batter and then are built upon to create different taste variations. For frying, refer to the box
Frying Fritters (
Pakorae Talna
)
.

Frying Fritters (
Pakorae Talna
)

1.
Heat the oil in a wok or skillet until it reaches 350°F to 375°F on a frying thermometer or a small teaspoon of batter dropped into the hot oil bubbles and rises to the top immediately.

2.
With clean hands, put the sliced or chopped vegetables (or other items) into the batter (in batches if necessary) and mix lightly with your fingers. Working with each piece separately, shake off the excess batter by tapping it lightly against the sides of the batter bowl, then put it into the hot oil carefully with your fingers (or with tongs) to avoid oil spluttering. Add as many pieces as the wok can hold at one time without crowding, and fry each batch, turning a few times with a slotted spoon, until crispy and golden on all sides, about 1 to 2 minutes for small, thin pieces, 2 to 3 minutes for bigger pieces. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat the process with remaining pieces.

Basic Batter for Pakora Fritters

Pakorae ka Besan

Makes 40 to 50 fritters

This is the most basic batter for
pakora
fritters, to which you can add as many or as few herbs and spices as you wish. With no other additions, this basic recipe forms a light, crisp coating around a large array of foods. More than anything else, it is the consistency of the batter that is really important. Thick, it will be doughy, thin it will not coat properly.

¹
⁄
₂
cup chickpea flour (besan)

¹
⁄
₃
teaspoon salt, or to taste

¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon baking soda

¹
⁄
₃
to
¹
⁄
₂
cup water

1.
Sift the chickpea flour into a medium bowl, add the salt and baking soda and mix well.

2.
Add
¹
⁄
₃
cup water to make a smooth batter of medium consistency. If the batter is thin, add some more chickpea flour; if it seems too thick, mix in some more water. The batter is now ready.

Sliced, Chopped, and Stuffed Vegetable Fritters

Potato Fritters with Chives