Recipe: Beer Batter Pakoras

Its raining, its pouring!!! Monsoons make me hungry. Well, just about everything makes me hungry, but monsoons bring out the cravings. There is nothing like enjoying some pakoras on a nice rainy sunday afternoon. Lets add a twist though, lets make them beer batter pakoras <insert evil laugh>.

Ingredients:-

1 cup of Besan Flour (Chick pea flour)
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon of Red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of Garam Masala or Chaat masala (as you want it flavoured)
Assortment of whatever you want to use to make pakoras. In my case it was  Potatoes.
1 can of Beer.
Sunflour or other oil for frying purposes.

Lets COOK!!!

Time for some Mise en Place. Lets boil those potatoes and cut them up into thin disks. You can possibly use raw potato but this gives you a nice soft pakora. Season them with a bit of salt, some red chilli powder.

To spice up the batter you want some Coriander and some fennel seeds.

 

Pound away at them in a mortar and pestle till you get as fine a powder as possible. 

(It will become finer. This is an intermediate stage, put some elbow grease into it!!!)

Add your ground spice, salt, chilli powder to your Besan flour. 

Now crack open that can of beer and slowly start pouring it into the mixture. Keep stirring it constantly, but be gentle. The whole idea here is to try and maintain the carbonation within the liquid. The air within the beer is what give shit pakora batter its light fluffiness.

I got it to the consistency of something like cream. You can go thicker or thinner if you like. If you go thinner, it might fall off the potato whilst frying. If you are making onion pakoras you want it to the consistency of a really thick thick paste, or maybe coat the onions in some all purpose flour so they hold onto the batter. (Not something I've tried, so let me know how it turns out if you do).
So pour slowly till you get the consistency you want. Don't worry about having beer left over, I doubt it will go to waste.
Now work quickly. You do not want the batter to stay out too long because it will again loose its aeration. Get the sunflower (or other frying oil) onto a wok, and start heating it.

When the oil is hot, dip the potato in the batter and drop it into the oil. Let them fry till they get a nice golden brown texture.

Once they are done, remove them with a slotted spoon and sit them on some paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

Sprinkle a little Chaat masala on them and serve them with tomato ketchup and enjoy the rains!!!!

Printable Recipe:

Ingredients:-

1 cup of Besan Flour (Chick pea flour)
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon of Red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt.
1 teaspoon of Garam Masala or Chaat masala (as you want it flavoured)
Assortment of whatever you want to use to make pakoras. In my case it was  Potatoes.
1 can of Beer.
Sunflour or other oil for frying purposes.

Lets COOK!!!

1) Boil your potatoes and cut them into little discs. Season with a little salt and red chilli pepper
2) Grind your fennel and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle.
3) Season your besan flour with the ground spices, salt, and red chilli powder.
4) Slowly add beer to your flour till you get the consistency you are aiming for. Be gentle whilst mixing the beer so as to not lose aeration. Work quickly.
5) Heat your oil in a wok.
6) When it comes to temperature, dip the potatoes into the batter and drop them into the hot oil.
7) Cook them till they are golden brown in colour and remove with a slotted spoon.
8) Let the pakoras sit on paper towels to soap up the excess oil.
9) Season them with Chaat masala, serve with Tomato Ketchup.

Recipe: Garlic Potato Wedges

This recipe was concocted when I read PurpleFoodies Garlic Potato Fries. I wanted to try it but sadly my pantry is a little understocked compared to hers. So hence, time for a bit of simplification.

Ingredients:-

3-4 Large Potatoes.
6 tablespoons of olive oil.
6 cloves of garlic
2 heaped tablespoons of cornflour
Salt, Red chilli Pepper, black pepper to taste.

Lets COOK!!!!

Parboil those lovely potatoes. This is simply a fancy way of saying "Cook them a little, but not completely". This is just so that they take lesser time in the oven and no bits are left raw at the end. For large potatoes, that would mean boiling them for about 15-18 minutes. You can peel them if you want, but I like leaving the skins on.

Cut the potatoes up into little wedges.Soak your potatoes in water for 10-15 minutes to get rid of extra starch. I read on PurpleFoodie's site you can leave them for a bit longer (about 30 minutes) and I think I will give that a try sometime too. Drain away the water and throw them into a pot and cover them.
Take those garlic cloves and pound away in a mortar and pestle.

Heat some olive oil in a wok/pan/pot. Throw in the garlic cloves and saute till they are nice and fragrant. Add the mixture to the pot containing your potatoes.
Now add your cornflour in and give it a nice old stir so all the potatoes get coated with the oil, garlic and cornflour. Mix in your salt, black pepper and red chilli powder in as well. Cover them and let them sit in the pot for about 5 minutes. This should infuse the potatoes with the flavours.

In the meantime heat your oven to 240 degrees centigrade. To bake the potatoes, I lined the oven tray with foil and just coated it with a wee bit of olive oil to prevent them from sticking.

Once the oven is heated, get your potatoes onto the tray, sprinkle a last bit of salt and drizzle a little olive oil onto them,  and into the oven they go.

Let them bake for about 30-40 minutes. This could take longer based on your oven and how long you have parboiled your potatoes.
Once they are done, take them out, (Including the burnt crunchy bits, they taste yummm) and indulge in them with some tomato sauce.

Printable Recipe:-


Ingredients:-

3-4 Large Potatoes.
6 tablespoons of olive oil.
6 cloves of garlic
2 heaped tablespoons of cornflour

Salt, Red chilli Pepper, black pepper to taste.

Lets COOK!!
1) Parboil your potatoes and cut them into wedges. Leave the skins, they are good for you.
2) Let the wedges soak in water for 10-15 minutes to remove excess starch. Drain away the water and put the potatoes into a covered pot.
3) Pound the garlic cloves in a mortar and pestle.
4) Heat the olive oil till it starts to simmer and add the garlic to it. Saute till fragrant.
5) Add the olive oil with garlic, cornflour, chilli, salt, pepper to the potatoes in the pot. Mix thoroughly till the olive oil and flour coat the potatoes.
6) Cover the pot and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
7) Heat your oven till 240 degrees centigrade.
8) Line a baking tray with foil and rub a little olive oil on it.
9) Empty your potatoes onto the foil. Sprinkle a little olive oil and salt over them and put them into the oven.
10) Bake for about 30-40 minutes. (this time could increased based on your oven and potatoes). You want them to get a nice crisp golden brown colour.
11) Serve with tomato ketchup, some mayo or any preferred dip.
12) Enjoy.