Paneer Pakoda

-

 The last few weeks we have not been able to go out of our houses at all. Not because of COVID but because of the wildfires in California. The skies are grey, the atmosphere is full of ashes & even the trampoline is covered with a thick layer of ash. It used to smell bad & it used to look back. 



But since the last two days, the sky has cleared up & thanks to the firefighters of Bay Area the fire has been contained more than 90% now. With fall starting & summer going away the evenings are starting to become darker & cooler sooner that I'd like. So lately we have been finding time in the evenings (like 4pm or so) and spending time outside in the yard with the kids playing & we sitting on a picnic mat & having some lip smacking Indian snacks.

Most of the Indian snacks are deep fried & like it or not. There's something with the deep fried smell & lazy evenings that makes the combination amazing. Plus, I am sure there's some scientific explanation somewhere as to why Indians eat deep fried evening snacks which I am not aware of. So.. here goes a family favorite pakoda recipe which has Paneer & some fry ground spices. It is Gluten Free, does not contain onion or garlic & can be easily made for festivals (for prasad) as well. 

What I used..

  • 8oz Paneer slab (regular Indian store bought)
    • cut into rectangles (see picture)
  • Dry spices
    • Salt to taste, 
    • 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
    • 1 tsp chat masala
    • Wee bit black salt
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • Besan or chick-pea flour about 1/2 cup
  • Kala Jeera aka Nigella seeds - 1tsp
  • Water to make the batter
  • Oil to deep fry
  • Deep bottom kadai to fry the pakodas in
Process
  • Marinate the cut paneer pieces in all the dry spices in the above list
  • Keep it aside for 15-20mins
  • Make a semi-thick batter using Besan + Salt + Nigella seeds + water. Batter should be slowly but also stick to the paneer
  • Heat oil for deep frying
  • When oil is medium hot, dip one paneer piece in the besan batter at a time & carefully slide into the hot oil.
  • Fry until the pakodas are cooked aka seem to be lighter brown in color.
  • If the sides are becoming more red, then it means the batter is not covering the paneer correctly & hence you need to add more besan & make the batter thicker. 

Enjoy with some hot & sweet sauce & sliced onions and of course hot Indian style milk tea with your family, may be in the backyard or inside the house. Family times are precious. Collect as many of them as you can. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gluten Free Almond Flour Mango Cake

-
Image
 Here's my take on the Gluten Free mango Cake.... There's not a story behind it other than the fact that I am trying to reduce sugar & gluten in my diet due to the health reasons & this cake gave me everything that I need for those late evening sweet cravings without feeling guilty or sad or having to plan extra time on the treadmill the next day.  This cake is made from almond flour so it's on the denser side & not entirely fluffy BUT it is soft & makes for an awesome tea time accompaniment.  Here's what I used... Wet ingredients 1 cup mango puree 3 eggs 2 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or butter) Dry ingredients 2.5 cups of Almond flour 2 tsp baking powder Process First mix all the wet ingredients in a clean bowl using a wire whisk Then add in the baking powder & almond flour Mix nicely using a spatula - DO NOT USE Wire whisk  Transfer the contents to a greased 10 inch round cake tin Bake until tooth-pick comes out clean on 325 F for ab
Read more

Chicken Patra Poda

-
Image
 Since the last few days, I have been binge watching YouTube videos of some Odiya Vloggers in the US. There are some really entertaining folks who sing & dance & go about their lives while sharing ups & downs with us (their subscribers). Sometimes they get too personal but it's the age of Social Media so I guess that is perfectly fine if the creator is OK with that. These folks that I watch are mostly girls ..Actually they are all girls.. hmm.. time for me to expand the scope a bit?? may be !!.  Anyways, one of the girls, lives in the eastern part of US & has a HUGE Odiya friends circle who meet almost every week for a party or picnic or potluck and she makes these yummy (almost) contemporary style Odiya food recipes that it makes me want to go back to the east coast & make her my sister. Yes, I used to live there & the first chance I got I left because of the harsh winters. I just could not bear the mere thought of getting up at 7am in the morning & spe
Read more

Masala Atta Chakuli

-
Image
"Chakuli" in Odisha comes in mainly three forms: Regular Chakuli - Made with Dosa batter (Rice + Urad Daal) -  Maida Chakuli - Made with Maida a.k.a Refined All-purpose flour And finally Atta chakuli - Made with "Atta" a.k.a Whole wheat flour Atta Chakuli is usually a form of sweet pancake in Odisha. It is a very good breakfast usually made on week days where making roti/paratha is either boring or time consuming. Growing up, I was not a fan of the dish though because it is sweet & as a kid I did not have a sweet tooth. I still don't & I think I am blessed because sugar kills (like literally).  This recipe was a result of three things... - I was sick of eating rice & poha (basically gluten-free) and wanted something different but should have tons of veggies 🍅 🌽 🌶  - I wanted something that is NOT sweet - I did not want to make roti (I am not very good at it & the Rotimatic is resting in the garage) Because of the above mentioned reasons, I sta
Read more