Chai-Pakoda (Tea-Deep Fried veggies with gram flour)

When we are kids, we loved when it rained. Lot of rains ment: No School that day, stay at home and have good food, play indoor games and in the evening have Chai-Pakoda and Mudhi (Mur-Mura or Puffed Rice). I remember, one of us used to go out and get Pakoda/Samosa from the nearby hotel and return half wet. Yesterday it rained here and we had cloudy weather. We thought, lets try Chai-Pakoda for evening snack. This is very popular snack in Western Orissa. The best way to have it is with chutney. However you can have it with chilli/tamato sauce.

How to make Pakoda?

Ingridents:

1. Besan (Gram Flour)
2. Onion
3. Diced Garlic, Ginger, Green Chillis (optional)
4. Patato, Curliflower, Leafy Veggies (Diced and its optional)
5. Chilli Powder
6. Turmeric Powder
7. Garam Masala
8. Salt to taste
9. Baking Soda (pinch of it)


Process:

Mix all the ingridents together in a bowl. The mixture needs to be consistent and you need to be careful not to add too much water while mixing. You need to add little bit water at a time. The mixture needs to be thick enough to stick to the veggies.

Take a frying pan and pour any cooking oil suitable for deep frying. Ensure the oil is hot

Make small balls (it will be irregular) of the mixture with your fingers and drop to start deep frying. You need to fry till it turns golden brown. Ensure not to fry too much or it will not taste good.

So we are done... you can serve the Pakodas with any wet chutney (mint, tamato, tamarind...) or have them with ketchup.