Deep Fried Chickpea Dough Curry Snacks (Pakoda)
Photo: Moheen Reeyad, CC BY-SA 4.0
Pakoda from Tamil Nadu is a crunchy fried snack of gram flour, onion, peanuts and curry leaves. The dough is kept stiff, closer to scone dough than pancake batter, which is what gives these their crisp, crumbly bite compared with the looser pakora found elsewhere in India. A little rice flour adds extra crunch, and the pieces keep for days, so a single batch goes a long way with tea.
Instructions
Mix the gram flour, rice flour, green gram flour if using, asafoetida, turmeric, cayenne, curry leaves, cumin and crushed peppercorns in a large bowl. Leave out the salt, peanuts and onion for now.
Add the chopped onion, peanuts, 1 tsp oil and salt, and mix well. Set the bowl aside for about 10 minutes so the onion releases its moisture into the flour.
Add water a little at a time, working it in until you have a stiff dough that holds in chunks but crumbles under light pressure. It should feel like scone dough. Too much water will make the pakoda soft instead of crisp.
Heat oil for frying in a heavy-bottomed pot until it is medium hot.
Pinch off chunks of the dough and lower them into the oil. Fry until golden brown and crisp, then lift them out. Heavy turmeric can darken the color, so keep to the quantity given.
Serve hot or at room temperature, with ketchup or a chutney if you like.
Make it personal.
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