Monday 1 December 2014

Spinach/Paalak Pakodas/Bajji

Spinach/Paalak Bajji/Pakodas are basically deep fried fritters made from dipping the chickpea flour batter with spices, dipped in vegetable of your choice or paneer and deep fried in hot oil.
Perfect for winter evenings with tea or coffee.
In south  India it is called Bajjis and in North of India as pakodas.
Basic batter is same in both of south and north India, it is made of chickpea flour with salt red chilly powder and mixed with water into a medium thick batter. 
Some variations will be in batter by adding rice flour, corn flour and spices like cumin whole/powder, ginger and garlic paste, chaat masala powder and so on.
So it is according to the taste of the individual.
Though not a healthy choice, but a tasty platter for a cold winter evenings with tea and coffee.
Me and my family love bajjis but make it very rarely. As we don't reuse the oil, it will be discarded once used, so not being  a very healthy option and we don't reuse the oil, so I don't make it very often.

Ingredients:
Spinach/Paalak - 15 leaves, medium sized, washed and pat dried,
Besan/Chickpea Flour - 1 cup,
Rice Flour - 1/4 cup,
Bi Carbonate of Soda - a pinch,
Red Chilly Powder - 1 and 1/2 teaspoons,
Salt,
Oil - 1 tablespoon,
Oil to deep fry.




Method:
Sieve Chickpea flour to remove all lumps.
Add rice flour, salt, red chilly powder and soda to the chickpea flour.
Mix the ingredients with water, adding water slowly to make a medium thick batter.
Finally add 1 tablespoon oil to the batter and mix well.
Heat sufficient oil in a frying pan.
Oil should be medium hot, not smoking.
Dip the spinach leaf in the batter, make sure the leaf is well coated with the batter and deep fry in medium hot oil, both sides until golden brown.
Repeat with rest of the leaves. 
According to the size of the frying you can fry 4-5 at a time.
Enjoy with mint coriander chutney or your with your favourite sauce.




Note:
Add raw, cold oil to the batter.
This will make pakodas/bajjis crisp and stays crisp for long.


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