Onion and Capsicum Pakoras

Looking in the kitchen cupboard, I found the half-used besan (chick pea flour) packet lying there. The thought of having pakoras for evening snacks struck my mind.

At times I wonder why foods from different kitchens vary in their taste. Why my macher jhol tastes different from that of my mother’s jhol? My sister cooks such a yummy aloo matar paneer...much better than me. Why everyone likes the taste of the Payesh from my kitchen?

So every kitchen has its own smell and taste. That’s how I feel. But don’t forget the person who brings out the taste from his/her cooking to let you find the dividing line of the different kitchens.

I was in my kitchen getting all the ingredients to make the pakora batter which I’m sharing with you.

2 onions thinly sliced.

1 capsicum cut into small pieces.

3 green chillies finely chopped

2 cups of besan

Pour the besan into a bowl. Add the onion, capsicum and green chillies.

Add 1 ½ tsp of baking powder, salt to taste, ½ tsp haldi powder (for colour), ½ tsp red chilli powder into the bowl with the other ingredients. Give it a thorough mix and then slowly add water to make a batter. The consistency of the batter is very important for the pakoras... not a very thin or a very thick batter.

When the batter is ready, time to heat oil in a wok for deep frying.

Drop the batter into the hot oil...the hand does the work to give the uneven shape and size to the pakoras which are deep fried and later placed on the kitchen tissue to drain the excess oil. Fry in batches.

Serve with sweet tamarind chutney or green chutney or tomato sauce and chilli sauce if someone wants it more hot and spicy.

Don’t forget to serve hot tea with the pakoras.