Cauliflower pakoda

Fritters are deep fried snacks that are common all around the world in different cuisines. The Indian version of fritters are popularly known as pakora or Pakoda or pakodi or bajji. I have already shared the recipes forbroccoli bajji, bread pakoda, pumpkin bud bhajia, and a common recipe for bhajji with different vegetables.

Cauliflower pakodas are my family favorite. Whenever cauliflower is in season, we make it and enjoy it as an evening snack with a cup of tea. It also goes well as a side dish with rice. Here I have shared my recipe to make cauliflower pakoras. Instead of making the traditional pakora batter, I like to mix the flours with the cauliflower florets adding very little water. I also like to mix some corn flour and rice flour along with gram flour. This way the fritters come out very crispy and tasty.

Ingredients

• Cauliflower - 1
• Gram Flour (Besan/ Kadalai Maavu) - 1 cup
• Rice Flour - 3/4 cup
• Corn Flour - 3/4 cup
• ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• lemon juice - 1 tbsp
• pepper powder - 1tsp
• red food color - optional
• baking soda - pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Red Chili Powder - 2 tsp
• Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp
• Oil - for deep frying

Method

1. Cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets.
2. Boil the florets in salted water for just couple of minutes. Drain the water completely. This step is important to get rid of worms inside the cauliflower as well as for salt to get into the cauliflower.
3. Mix the flours, salt and the spices in a bowl. Sprinkle this spice powder over the boiled cauliflower florets.
4. The moisture from the cauliflower is sufficient to make the spice mix stick to the florets. If needed, just sprinkle few drops of extra water.
5. Heat the oil for deep frying. Take a spoonful of the cauliflower pakora mix and add it to the hot oil.
6. Fry till golden brown. Drain excess oil in a paper towel and serve hot with some ketchup.

Tips

• If you love chatpatta street food style pakoras, sprinkle some chaat masala as soon as the pakoras come out of the hot oil.
• If fried snacks are likely to upset your stomach, add some carom seeds (ajwain, omam) while making the pakoda batter.