Monday, May 21, 2012

Cilantro Medhu Pakoda

Whenever I try a new recipe, I just can’t wait to get feedback from my favorite guinea pig, my husband.  So, I was in the kitchen, getting the first batch out of the oil when he came back from work. He took his first bite and said,
“This tastes a bit like medhu pakoda.”
Ignorant me - “What is that? That is not what I made!”
Him – “It is a popular dish in Chennai, have you never had it?”
Ignorant me – “No, never ever heard of it before.”
Next step… I turn to Google for some enlightenment. And guess what, the basic ingredients were same for the kothimbir vadi that I had made and the medhu pakoda that he had tasted :-).
Medhu pakodas are also made with the besan and rice flour mix but have onions, curry leaves, ginger and green chilies instead of the cilantro and other masalas in this recipe. And there is no steaming involved.
Anyway, regardless of the ingredients used, as long as the final product is palatable, Aal Izz Well!
Ingredients
Besan (gram flour) – 1 cup
Rice flour – 2 tbsps
Cilantro leaves – 1 ½ cups
Finely chopped ginger – 1 ½ tsps
Chili powder – 1 ½ tsps
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Sesame seeds – 2 tbsps
Carom seeds – ½ tsp
Baking soda (I used Eno) – ¼ tsp
Sugar – ½ tsp
Salt to taste
Water to make thick batter
Oil for deep frying
Method
Mix all the ingredients (except water) in a bowl. Add water, little by little, to make a thick batter. Pour into a greased vessel and steam for about 20 minutes. I used my mini idly stand and placed it in the cooker. You could use a flatter vessel and pour the whole batter into it and steam it in a wide mouthed pressure cooker. A toothpick poked into the steamed mixture should come out clean.
Remove from the vessel and allow it to cool. Heat oil, add the cooled pakodas and fry until they turn slightly brown. These can be served as is, with ketchup or with mint chutney. Bon Appétit. 

Note – The pakodas can be shallow fried in a pan too.


15 comments:

  1. Delicious flavorful pakoras,glad that u steamed it and then fried using very little oil :-)

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  2. looks yumm.. this and a glass of nimbu paani, perfect for the summer!

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  3. Thanks Anu, Non stick, Nutty and Sous Chef and Renuka. You guys should try it.

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  4. We make kothimbir wadi, cabbage wadi methi wadi in similar way. This looks yumm.
    Love Ash.

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  5. Thanks Ash. Will try those variations too.

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  6. wow this looks so delicious, love your non fried version

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  7. Hi Kanan, thanks for dropping by.

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  8. Wow it's too good... But I wonder why do u steam cook first... Any special reasons?

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  9. Akila, I was just following a recipe posted by a fellow blogger. No idea why it has to be steamed. Maybe it changes the texture :-)

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  10. very flavourful and delicious ones :)

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