ONION PAKODA RECIPE – Garam Pakoda

1. If ghee or vanaspathi is cold, just bring them to room temperature.

2. Cream ghee or vanaspathi with baking soda until its well blended.

3. Combine gram flour, rice flour, turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Add this to the creamed fat and mix to form a crumbly textured flour.

4. To this, add onions, chopped chilies, curry leaves, cumin, fennel, asafoetida, crushed ginger and garlic. Mix well to coat the flour mixture on all sides.

5. Slowly add water as you knead and form a stiff dough. It should look like a thick mass, but not too sticky.

6. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai(medium high flame). When its ready, try a sample first. Fry till golden on all sides, cool and wait for 10 minutes. Now taste it to check whether its crunchy enough.

Possible mistakes

a. If oil temperature is too low, the dough would actually sink and if you still keep frying, it would suck too much oil. Will melt and mess your oil. Remedy — No escape, let the oil cool completely, drain the wastage and start again.

b. By mistake if you add more water and if the dough looks too soft then you would end up making medhu pakodas. Its OK, but in order to make them crispy, the dough should be just about firm.  Remedy— Add extra rice flour, adjust salt and try again.

c. If you fry them too long expecting them to turn crispy, you will end up having very hard (rock)pakodas.  Please do not keep them too long, when they are evenly browned, the vigorous bubbles will settle and that’s the key to remove.

Some Pakoda recipes to try..

1. Mixed Veg Pakora
2. Chicken Pakoda
3. Cashewnut Keerai Pakoda
4. Medhu Pakoda

7. Now that everything’s perfect, go ahead and drop little portions in the hot oil and deep fry. Drain excess fat in a paper towel. Cool completely and then store in air-tight box for up to a week.

Notes