September 6
We are seeing a bit of strange weather from past couple of days. The daytime is unusually warm and humid, which is unlikely in Pune. And by the time it is around 6 PM, thunderstorm with heavy rain and gusty wind starts. It was so bad that it kind of reminded me of Nisarg from a couple of months back. Howling winds, rattling windows, rainwater entering the home and myself scurrying around the house with a mop in hand. I just hope Pune goes back to its normal weather where it rains but not like this.
From this weekend I started watching Bandish Bandits. It is a rare treat - a web series woven around Indian classical music, and revolves around the love story between Tamanna- a popstar, and Radhe- a classical music prodigy in Jodhpur. I know I am late and half of the world might have already finished it by now. But initially I didn't check it out as I thought it might be a little boring with classical music as the theme. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against classical music, in fact yours truly is certified in Indian classical music herself. But still I am not a exactly a connoisseur of classical music. But when I started watching this series I really liked it. The songs, especially the background score is particularly haunting. And some of the songs really feels good to hear especially when it rains. Mixing old world charm with peppy new age music, and the story line is also engaging. I am not a binge watcher and I like to savor the episodes at a slow pace, if I start liking any web series. That way I have good content at my disposal for days.
Now with good content to watch you also need some good thing to munch on to add to the mood. Since it is rainy season now, the most obvious option that comes to mind is pakodas (fritters).Rains and pakodas basically go hand in hand. But still I resist the temptation of having pakodas most of the time because its dripping in oil and deep fried. Now a days I feel all of us are taking extra precautions of our health and trying to imbibe all good habits into our daily routine including out food. Thus oil drenched food are something which at best should be avoided mostly.
But the cravings don't stop, so I decided to turn pakodas into a healthy avatar by baking them in the oven. They might not exactly taste like the fried ones, but it is delicious in addition to the fact that you don't need to feel guilty while gorging on them. Don't worry they do taste like pakodas because when you bake them in the oven they come out super crispy,
To double the health benefits I chose Moringa Leaves as the major component. Moringa has many important vitamins and minerals.The leaves have 7 times more vitamin C than oranges and 15 times more potassium than bananas. It also has calcium, protein, iron, and amino acids, which help your body heal and build muscle.The slight bitterness of the Moringa leaves is balanced by the nuttiness of the cashew and the heavy aroma of roasted garlic. I can feel many of you wondering, why cashew in pakoda, but believe me if you have never added cashew in your pakodas before do try it once. I can guarantee you will fall in love with it.
Note that this recipe will work with most vegetables like corn, cauliflower, onion, chilli or palak pakodas too. But it wont work with vegetables which has high water content like tomato, parwal etc.
Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Baking Time : 22 minutes
Serving : 1
Ingredients :
- Moringa Leaves (Drumstick Leaves) - 1 cup packed, washed and air dried
- Potato - 1 medium (grated)
- Garlic Cloves - 4 (chopped)
- Green Chilli - 1 (chopped)
- Curry Leaves - 5 to 6, washed and air dried
- Cashew Nut - 5 to 6 (chopped roughly)
- Asafoetida (Hing) - 1 pinch
- Baking Soda - 1/8th tsp
- Chickpea flour (Besan) - 3/4 th cup
- Rice Flour -
- Kashmiri Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp *
- Salt to taste
- Olive Oil / Any refined oil - 1 tsp + 1 tsp
Equipment:
- Rimmed Sheet Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Microwave/ Traditional Oven
- Knife
Method:
1. Start by cleaning the Moringa leaves.
2. Take a mixing bowl and roughly grate the raw potato with skin on.
3. Add the moringa leaves, chopped green chilli, curry leaves, chopped garlic, chopped cashew nut, asafoetida, baking soda, chickpea flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and 1 tsp of oil.
Tip: Chickpea flour often has lumps in it, so in order to avoid this clumping sift it in using a sieve. I sifted both the chickpea flour and rice flour together. The chickpea will bind teh fritter and the rice flour will give it the much needed crispiness.
4. Now use your hands to mix it all. Start kneading it with your hands, the moisture in the potato will help in binding the mixture together. Give it an occasional light press to release the moisture into the mixture. Knead it all into a sticky mixture
Note: Add 1 tsp of water, at a time, only if you feel mixture is too dry. Ideal consistent should be sticky and not runny.
5. Preheat oven to 180/200 degrees (depending on the strength of the oven).
Note: I baked this in convection mode in my microwave oven at 180 degrees.
6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and put dollops of the mixture maintaining gap between two dollops. Slightly flatten the dollop with gentle press of fingers or spoon, somewhat like a patty. Now brush off the top of the dollops with pinch of oil.
7. Put the tray into the oven and bake for about 20-22 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven. Keep checking at every 5 minutes if you are doing it for the first time, so that you don't end up burning them.
Tip: After about half the time, flip the pakodas so that the bottom layer is also evenly cooked. Brush the top off with pinch of oil and put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes.
Carefully take the tray out as it might be extremely hot. Enjoy it with chai or any beverage of your choice.
Pro Garnishing Tip: Sprinkle some curry leaves podi powder on top and chopped fresh coriander leaves for that heightened zing in flavours! Have some sweet Imli (tamarind) chutney or tomato sauce in the side.
Check the Podi Recipe Here
2. Take a mixing bowl and roughly grate the raw potato with skin on.
3. Add the moringa leaves, chopped green chilli, curry leaves, chopped garlic, chopped cashew nut, asafoetida, baking soda, chickpea flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, salt and 1 tsp of oil.
Tip: Chickpea flour often has lumps in it, so in order to avoid this clumping sift it in using a sieve. I sifted both the chickpea flour and rice flour together. The chickpea will bind teh fritter and the rice flour will give it the much needed crispiness.
4. Now use your hands to mix it all. Start kneading it with your hands, the moisture in the potato will help in binding the mixture together. Give it an occasional light press to release the moisture into the mixture. Knead it all into a sticky mixture
Note: Add 1 tsp of water, at a time, only if you feel mixture is too dry. Ideal consistent should be sticky and not runny.
5. Preheat oven to 180/200 degrees (depending on the strength of the oven).
Note: I baked this in convection mode in my microwave oven at 180 degrees.
6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper and put dollops of the mixture maintaining gap between two dollops. Slightly flatten the dollop with gentle press of fingers or spoon, somewhat like a patty. Now brush off the top of the dollops with pinch of oil.
7. Put the tray into the oven and bake for about 20-22 minutes, depending on the strength of your oven. Keep checking at every 5 minutes if you are doing it for the first time, so that you don't end up burning them.
Tip: After about half the time, flip the pakodas so that the bottom layer is also evenly cooked. Brush the top off with pinch of oil and put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes.
Carefully take the tray out as it might be extremely hot. Enjoy it with chai or any beverage of your choice.
Pro Garnishing Tip: Sprinkle some curry leaves podi powder on top and chopped fresh coriander leaves for that heightened zing in flavours! Have some sweet Imli (tamarind) chutney or tomato sauce in the side.
Check the Podi Recipe Here
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