Pakotas are an essential item of Indian festive food. They can be made with almost any vegetable (commonly bell pepper, cauliflower, eggplant, potato, or spinach; your veggie club president makes some mean tofu pakotas with extra-thick tahini sauce -- Vijay). This is also a nice way of getting people to eat vegetables they don't normally like.
Pakota needs to be deep-fried which means big dangerous pots of hot oil. These pakotas are flat, however, which means they can be fried in a frying pan with about three centimetres of oil in it. This is marginally less hazardous and has the added advantage that the temperature of the oil is easier to control. As with all deep fried food, these pakotas can be a bit greasy, but there are steps you can take to cut down the greasiness. The first thing is to use a light oil. Corn oil is fairly heavy and clings to things and generic 'vegetable' oil is usually the worst of all. Sunflower oil is much lighter, as is grapeseed oil or peanut oil. The second thing you can do is lift your pakotas directly onto some absorbent paper when you take them out of the pan. Build up layers of pakota sandwiched between sheets of paper. This will keep the pakotas hot as well as absorbing most of the oil from them.
You need gram flour for this recipe - that's flour made from chick-peas. You'll get it in the health-food shop, but if you're lucky to live near a shop stocking imported Indian food, get it there. The quality will probably be better and it will be fresher. While you're there, pick up a load of spices too. You'll also need some kind of spoon with holes in it for lifting the pakotas out of the oil.
Heat up the oil in a wook or deep-frying pan. In the meanwhile, make a batter by mixing together the flour and all the spices. Then, add enough water to make a thick batter. It should be of a consistency that will thinly coat the vegetables. The oil is ready for frying when batter drops quickly crisp and crackle in it. You should coat the cut vegetables in the batter, and then slip them into the oil (don't slam dunk them, as this will cause your oil to splash and burn!). Don't do too many at a time; make sure the vegetables have enough swimming space. Ready you are Vegetable Pakota Please visit in the site www.indomunch.com for extra details.
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