Pakoras are served as a snack or appetizers. There's nothing which can compare to crispy hot Pokaras with a cup of steaming hot tea or coffee. Pakoras are basically vegetables, bread, paneer or even chicken dipped in a batter of gram flour and deep fried. This is what I made last evening for my tea time snack. I made Escarole Pakodas.Now before you start thinking, whats up with this girl..she's obsessed with all the green vegetables. Yes I did post a recipe on Escarole Wali Dal and Vegetable Farfalle with Spinach and now Escarole Pakoras. But let me explain my situation. I guess I've figured it out. Whenever I go to the farmers market for my vegetable shopping I end up with way TOO much. Its like a kid lost in a candy store. Seeing so many fresh vegetables and fruits around you, I just get carried away. End result so many vegetables and with just 4 members in my family..do you think we'll be able to do justice to these poor vegetables..so thats whats been happening. I guess now when I go next time..I'll just be a littler more in check... So guys this is the last of the Escarole I had..so made these cripsy Pakoras/Fritters which I tried for the very first time and they turned out good as my kids and DH finished them all...Good thing I took some clicks just before I served them... LOL.
Ingredients :
- 2 cups chopped Escarole
- 1 1/2 cups gram flour/Besan/Chickpea flour
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp amchur/dry mango powder
- salt to taste
- water
- oil for deep frying
Preparation :
- Mix the gram flour, turmeric powder, red chili powder , amchur powder and salt with little water to make a thick batter. Mix it well and make sure there are no lumps.
- Now add the chopped Escarole and green chillies and mix it well and make sure the batter is still of thick consistency. (Now at this step, you could add a little water if its too thick to make the pakoras or add a little flour if the batter is too thin. It shoud be of a spoon drop consistency).
- Now's the fun part...Carefully scoop the batter with your hand and gently drop them into the hot oil. You could even use a spoon to do this. Take a spoon full and gently drop them. Deep fry the Pakoras in hot oil on a medium flame till golden brown in color.
- They are ready to serve with green chutney or ketchup and a hot cup of tea.
- This recipe yields 16-20 Escarole Pakoras/Fritters which could serve 4 .