A Frying Pan Secret

In yesterday’s post I had shared with you my chat with my good friend Arva Ahmed, who is a UAE Food blogger at “I Live In A Frying Pan” and our favourite local food tour conductor, owner of the first and best food tour company in the UAE “Frying Pan Adventures“. We had been talking about India, and specifically about Ramadan in India, Indian Cuisine and what the Indian people eat during the month of Ramadan. You can check out our chat on this link.

Arva and her mother were very generous to share with us what Arva Refers to as “mum’s zealously guarded secret Pakodas recipe”, a staple Ramadan recipe at their home. Arva explains that Pakodas refers to any kind of vegetable – onion slices, spinach leaves, potatoes – coated in a spiced gram flour batter and deep-fried until golden brown. She then tells me that her favourite kind of Pakodas – one that they only sees emerge from her mum’s kitchen during Ramadan – is the stuffed chili pakodas. They are de-seeded chillies that have a “poofy” batter-coat and are bursting at the seams with a spicy-salty sesame paste (til ki chutney) that has been stuffed inside. The recipe is posted here, with her and her mum’s blessing, for you to try at home.  Do give these beauties a try, you will be really glad you did 🙂

Ingredients

Filling

  • Sesame Seeds – ½ Cup
  • Coriander – To taste
  • Mint – To taste
  • Dried Tamarind – 1 heaped tbsp
  • Green Chillies – To taste
  • Salt – To taste

Chilli Pakodas

  • Green Chili Peppers – 8 large peppers, each of which should be about 2 inches long
  • Gram flour (besan) – 1 cup
  • Red Chilli powder – ½ tsp
  • Ajwain – ½ tsp
  • Turmeric – A pinch
  • Salt – To taste

Make the Filling

Leave the tamarind to soak in 4 tbsp of water.

Roast the sesame seeds and grind them to a powder. Continue grinding after adding in the coriander, mint leaves and green chillies. Add the tamarind water and pulse the mixture. Add more water if needed to form a smooth but thick chutney (do not allow it to become runny or watery.)

Make the Chilli Pakodas

Start heating the vegetable oil in a deep pot or wok.

Slit and de-seed the green chilli peppers (or leave the seeds in if you prefer to go down the extra fiery route!)

Stuff the peppers with the sesame-tamarind filling.

In a separate bowl, mix the gram flour with the rest of the spices and water until it becomes a thick, sludgy batter.

Dip each pepper into the batter and make sure it is coated well on all sides – and especially the slit of the pepper – with the batter. Then deep-fry the chillies until golden brown.

 

This Pakodas recipe and photograph, are provided by Arva Ahmed and are her property. They are published on this blog with her permission. Please do not copy or use them without her permission.

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