Grilled Veggie Pakora Sandwich

Here's a new sandwich, assembled at home of (mostly) bought ingredients. I was inspired by the many Indian toasted sandwiches I've seen on Instagram. The filling is Veggie Pakoras (fried vegetable fritters), cut-up and mixed with instant mashed potato. The inside of each slice of bread is spread with chutney: cilantro on one side, tamarind on the other. The sandwich was fried in a covered pan, with some butter-olive oil mix, and coconut oil, until golden brown and crispy.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  My off-recipe experiments sometimes fail dramatically. 😐 However, in this one, the cilantro chutney added freshness, the tamarind chutney added sweetness, the Pakoras added spice and substance, and the mashed potato brought it all together. I'd say this was a success!

Tofu "Paneer" Pakora 

(Tofu Fritters in a Chickpea-Flour Batter)

I made these using the Pakora batter from My Tasty Curry's Special Paneer Pakoda Recipe. A few days ago, I baked some firm tofu before adding half of it to a noodle stir-fry (not pictured). I decided to transform the rest into Indian Pakora (fritters in a chickpea-flour batter), but wanted a recipe to guide me. This batter seemed the best candidate of those I found, and indeed, it ended up cooking nice and crispy. (I shallow-fried rather than deep-fried, but that seemed to be enough.)

The first pic is the Tofu Pakora. There was still batter left, so I fried that, too! That's the second pic. The third pic features everything together. The leftovers reheated nicely in a toaster oven, on a toaster-oven-safe tray, the next day. I just had to watch that some of the thinner pieces didn't burn. This certainly is tasty!

My Tasty Curry Website, Special Paneer Pakoda Recipe

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

(Onion Fritters in Buttermilk Sauce)

These were from the recipe of Veg Recipes of India. I made Kadhi (sauce) with Pakora (fritters) once, long, long ago, when I was first learning to cook Indian cuisine ... but not since! I was inspired to make it now, as a way to use up the liquid (whey) left over from making Paneer/Chenna (Indian cheese).

I've read that this liquid can be used in any recipe in place of buttermilk, and indeed I've used it with success in muffins and such. So, why not Kadhi, too? The base of several Punjabi Kadhi recipes I've seen, was either yogurt or buttermilk, so I hope this isn't too outlandish. And while I was experimenting, why not make the Pakoras in an ebelskiver pan, rather than deep-frying? (The recipe says you can also bake them.)

The results? I found the Kadhi with this liquid to be too acidic (which isn't so good for me), so next time, I'll use yogurt according to the recipe. Otherwise, I liked it! The Pakoras weren't crisp, but then, I can never get anything I fry (except sometimes bread) to become crispy. The recipe called for mixing sliced onions with the batter ingredients (except water), and setting aside for 30 minutes first. I think this contributed to the onions just melting into the fritters, with a sweet taste. Yummy.

Sometimes I find chickpea flour (used in the Pakoras) to be too heavy, so I added a bit of baking soda to the batter (not in the recipe). Oops, I realized that turmeric + baking soda = red, too late. 😉 The Pakoras looked so good, that I tried them anyway, and I'm still here ... though I think they were a bit too acidic. However, this was my own error. Next time, I hope I'll remember not to add the baking soda! The verdict? I'll make this Kadhi Pakora again, but according to the recipe this time! 

Veg Recipes of India Website, Punjabi Kadhi Recipe

Baked Broccoli & Cauliflower Fritters or Pakora Sandwich

This is a Throwback to June. The fritters/pakore were made to go along with Punjabi Kadhi. I finished the Kadhi, but still had some pakore left. What to do? Make a sandwich! I put some Harissa (Moroccan chili sauce) on toast, followed by the pakore, with sev (crunchy chickpea noodles) sprinkled on. Yogurt and sorbet (not pictured) accompanied the sandwich. 

Vegan Richa Website, Baked Broccoli Fritters with Spiced Yogurt - Pakore Waali Vegan Punjabi Kadhi

Baked Broccoli & Cauliflower Fritters

with Spiced Yogurt 

(Pakore Waali Punjabi Kadhi)

This recipe is from Vegan Richa. First, I made the Kadhi (spiced yogurt). The original recipe is vegan and calls for vegan yogurt for the Kadhi, but I must confess that I'm not a vegan, and so I used regular whole-milk yogurt. The Kadhi was very simple to make, yet smelled so yummy. Due to my own error it was too salty, but I ate it anyway, it was so good. 

Recipes for Kadhi call for mixing chickpea flour with yogurt, and cooking it. Unfortunately, it's too heavy for me to eat that way, and so I haven't made Kadhi in several years. I decided to try Kadhi again, this time adding some leftover Hummus (see recent post) instead of the chickpea flour. (This might help explain how I managed to oversalt the dish.) The smell reminded me of Kadhi from years past, so I think it worked well.

I made the Pakoras (fritters) separately, using frozen broccoli & cauliflower, that I defrosted in the microwave first. Once the Pakoras were baked, I just added some to the Kadhi for the meal. Mmm, I have extra Pakoras! which will make a nice, light meal themselves.

Vegan Richa Website, Baked Broccoli Fritters with Spiced Yogurt -- Pakore Waali Vegan Punjabi Kadhi

Baked Cauliflower Pakore (Pakoras/Fritters/Dumplings)

These were made according to Vegan Richa's recipe for Baked Broccoli Fritters. I don't think I got them exactly right, so I guess I'll just have to make them again. I really liked them, and had to stop myself from eating all of them at once!

The veggies were cut up small and mixed with a thick batter of chickpea/garbanzo bean flour/besan, before being baked; I also sprayed them with oil. I used slightly defrosted frozen cauliflower, as that's what I had to work with. Maybe I'll have broccoli to try it with, next time.

Vegan Richa Website, Baked Broccoli Fritters with Spiced [Vegan] Yogurt