ALOO PAKORA | POTATO FRITTERS

Pakoras are goddamn delicious! They take me home sweet home, to days when life seemed so easy and dreamy, and the only worry was making sure I got home in time to have my cup of freshly brewed chai and a fresh batch of these piping hot beauties, whilst having a good ‘gubshup’ (see note) with my Mum!

Ingredients

2 potatoes, sliced into 1cm discs (or any other vegetable like pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant, onions or cauliflower)

1 cup of gram (besan) flour

1 fresh green or red chilli, finely chopped

1 small bunch of coriander, finely chopped

1 tsp carom seeds (or use fennel seeds if you have those instead)

1 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp ground birds eye red chilli (this is for an extra kick of chilli, so you can leave it out if you prefer)

Salt to taste

A glass of cold water

Oil for frying

Method

1- Place the flour, freshly chopped chilli and coriander, together with the spices and salt into a large bowl

2- Place a deep, large frying pan or wok on the stove at a low-medium heat with enough oil to submerge the fritters

3- Slowly trickle the cold water into the bowl intermittently to form the batter – not too thin and not too thick, a consistency that will coat the potatoes well

4- The oil in the pan should now be hot – so be careful – test it with a little drop of the batter, if it starts to sizzle vigorously it is ready to go, if not, allow the oil to heat further

5- Carefully place the coated potatoes, individually, into the hot oil – best to submerge them from the sides of the pan and not into the middle of the hot oil which could splash back and cause burning

6- Continue with the above in batches, allowing the potatoes to cook through until they become golden and crispy on both sides

7- Using a spatula with holes, remove the cooked pieces and drain on some kitchen paper

Serve hot with some mint chutney.

Note: ‘Gupshup’ – an informal term used by Indians, meaning chit-chat, or gossip in English.