D for Deep Fried Goodies

Junk food is my comfort food. There’s nothing like sitting with a huge packet of Lays Magic Masala and munching away. Don’t judge me! I have had an incredible childhood where I always had yummy food at home. Of those, some of my favorite foods included deep fried goodies. Granted, they were not an everyday occurrence but whenever these treats were cooked at home, my day was made. These are vegetarian or non vegetarian deep fried bite sized wonders which are a burst of flavour on your tongue; the crunchiness simply adds to the experience.

It’s Desi and Home-made!

The connection is totally desi! The dishes I am about to describe are all Indian. Whichever part of India we travel to, these will be available in some form or other and by various names. Home-made is the best way to go and trust me, these will turn out delicious!

Pakoda / Peyaji / Kanda Bhajji

Ingredients:

Onions – 2, medium sized

Turmeric – 1 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Besan (gram flour) – ½ cup

Green chilli – 1 or 2 (optional), thinly chopped

Water – as required

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

1. Cut the onions into thin slices.
2. Add the besan, salt, turmeric and green chillies.
3. Now mash in the besan with the onions so that the juices of the onions are released, and a cakey mixture is formed. Add in water as required so that the final result is a sticky batter, lightly coating the onions. The batter should not be too runny or thick.
4. Now heat oil in a deep kadhai (pot). Put in the onion batter in dollops and deep fry till golden brown.
5. Drain the fries on absorbent paper and your yummy pakodas are ready to be enjoyed with a cup of tea!

Tip: For best results, midway through frying using your spatula to flatten the dollops like a coin. It helps in better heat distribution and even frying.

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Daal Fritters / Tele bhaja

Ingredients:

Masoor dal – 1 cup

Bengal gram (chholar daal) – 2 tbsp.

Salt – to taste

Kashmiri red chilli powder – to taste

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

1. Soak the two pulses – masoor and bengal gram – for atleast 1 hour.
2. Drain the pulses and grind them into a paste in a blender. The wet pulses should be enough to be a paste; if not, add water in tiny teaspoon measures.
3. Once the daal are ground to a paste, take it out into a bowl and add salt and Kashmiri red chilli powder.
4. Now whip/beat the mixture with a simple hand whip. This aerates the mixtures and makes the fritters fluffly.
5. Now heat oil in a deep pan and add the batter in small balls.
6. Deep fry till they are golden brown and then drain onto absorbent paper. Crunchy fluffy daal fritters are ready!

Tip: This recipe can be done without the Bengal gram. The Bengal gram is my personal addition to make the fritters truly crunchy. I sometimes add yellow and green moong as well. Multi-daal fritters taste as good as the original version.

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Beguni / Eggplant fries

Ingredients:

Eggplant – 1 (preferably thin, long one)

Salt – to taste

Turmeric – 1 tsp.

Besan (gram flour) – 1 cup

Water – as required

Oil – for deep frying

Method:

1. Slice the eggplant longitudinally to form fillets. Of ½” thickness and 2” or 3” in length.
2. Marinade with salt and turmeric.
3. Create a batter out of besan and water. The batter should be slightly thick and gloopy, not runny at all.
4. Heat oil in a deep pan. Coat the eggplant fillets in the batter evenly and drop into the hot oil.
5. Deep fry till they are golden brown and drain onto absorbent paper.
6. Enjoy with hot rice and daal!

Tip: Add a tbsp. of the hot oil into the batter and mix. It makes for crunchier fries.

Chicken Pakoda

Ingredients:

Chicken – 200-250gms., boneless

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Vinegar – 1 tsp.

Soya sauce – 1.5 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Red chilli powder – 1 tsp.

Egg white – 1 egg

Flour – 1.5 tbsp.

Cornflour – 1 tsp.

Oil – for deep frying.

Method:

1. Cut the chicken into cubes. Marinade with ginger garlic paste, vinegar, soya sauce, salt and red chilli powder for minimum half an hour.
2. Add the egg white, flour and cornflour and mix well.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan. Now fry the chicken pieces till they are golden brown.
4. Serve hot chicken pakodas with ketchup or mayonnaise.

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All the recipes above are ideal for 2 people. Try out these simple but delicious deep-fried wonders at home and let me know how they turn out. I know any of these on any given day would just make my day!

This post was written for Blogchatter A2Z challenge: Day 4 – Letter “D”.