CAULIFLOWER FRITTERS / GOBI KE PAKODE

Crunchy and delicious pakoda that I happened to make recently for a evening snack on a weekend. Made south Indian style, these are very flavourful and the entire house fills with an exciting aroma. These are best served hot as they begin to loose the crunch when cooled.

Here the gobi/ cauliflower is marinated with spices first and then dipped in the gram flour batter and fried. These gobi pakora  are crisp in taste and should ideally be eaten hot. If you are having them as snacks then pair them with a cup of hot masala chai or coffee. Today I am going to share cauliflower fritters recipe or cauliflower pakoda recipe with step by step photos. A very tasty, quick and easy to make Indian cauliflower fritters recipe. It is a very easy and tasty recipe to make deep fried snack. You need very few ingredients to make this crispy cauliflower pakoda recipe. These pakodas can be served as a side dish or even as a starter with tomato sauce or pudina chutney or coriander chutney. They can be had plain or with roti or even with bread. My hubby loved to have them with bread.

INGREDIENTS:

 250-300 gms Cauliflower  Florets

2 Sprigs of Curry Leaves

2-3 Green Chillies Chopped

1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds

1 teaspoon Carom seeds [ajwain]

1 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder [as required]

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

 1 Cup Besan Flour/ Gram Flour

¼ Cup Rice Flour / 2 tablespoon Corn Flour [ for crispyness]

Salt as needed

1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder

Salt as required

A pinch of Asafoetida

Water as per needed

Oil for frying

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Cut the cauliflower florets and keep them aside.

STEP 2 -  Keep water for boiling, add salt to it.

Add cauliflower florets to salted hot water and leave for some time. [You can also add some turmeric powder and rock salt to the water to get rid of the worms and pesticides residue.]

STEP 3 – Drain the water and rinse the florets thoroughly under running tap water. Drain in a colander.

Keep them aside.

STEP 4 – Wash curry leaves and chop or tear them. Cut green chillies. Make a fine paste of ginger garlic. We need 2 sprigs of curry leaves,  ginger garlic paste,  ajwain/ vaamu,  red chilli powder,  garam masala. If you like you can also add little chaat masala or amchur powder. Mix all the ingredients and make a marinade.

STEP 4 – Coat the florets with the marinade. Keep them aside.

STEP 5 – Mix besan and  rice flour . You can also substitute 2 tbsp rice flour with 2 tbsp of corn flour. For health reasons I have not used corn flour. Mix together the flours with salt and generous pinch of hing.

Coat the marinated gobi florets well with the mix flours.

STEP 6 - Heat oil in a wide fry pan.

When oil is hot enough, deep fry the florets in small batches until golden on a medium heat. The bubbles in a pan reduce when the florets are fried well.

STEP 7 – Drain the pakodas on a kitchen tissue and serve hot with your favourite chutney.

Repeat the same with remaining mixture. Serve cauliflower pakodas with a hot cup of masala tea or coffee.

Serve hot cauliflower pakodas/ fritters with a hot cup of masala chai or coffee on a rainy day and enjoy with your family or friends.