Baigan (egg plant) pakoda (fritters)

• Servings: 4
• Preparation time: 5-6 minutes.
• Frying time: 10 minutes..
• Total time: 16 minutes.

It was cloudy day of Tokyo in the month of March, we all locked down due to Covid-19, I had only eggplant in my refrigerator, and so I thought nothing can be more satisfying than a cup of ginger tea with eggplant fritters.

“Baigan (egg plant) pakoda (fritters)” is a crisp and flavourful fritter made by coating thin slices of eggplant in a spiced gram flour batter and deep-frying them to golden perfection. Light on the inside yet crunchy outside, these pakodas carry a unique taste that sets them apart from other fritters.

Popular as a tea-time snack, especially during rainy days or festive gatherings, they pair beautifully with Green Chutney, Tamarind Chutney, or simply a hot cup of masala chai. Simple Baigan Pakoda is a much-loved treat that turns the humble eggplant into a delightful indulgence.

Ingredients:

• Baigan: 2-3 no.
• Garlic paste: ½ teaspoon
• Salt: half teaspoon
• Ajwain (carom seeds): ¼ teaspoon
• Besan (gram flour): ½ cup
• Water: ½ cup
• Mustard oil: for deep fry
• Meetha soda (Soda bicarb): 1 pinch

Preparation:

1. Take baigan, peel off and slice into thin layer. Keep aside.
2. Take a bowl. Put Besan, salt, Ajwain, garlic paste and Meetha soda in it.
3. Make a smooth batter with the help of water.

Method:

1. Take kadhai (fry pan), heat oil in it.Let oil to smoke.
2.  Pour a drop of batter into the oil. If batter comes up, it means right temperature of oil otherwise wait for a while and test again.
3. After getting right temperature of oil, dip a slice of baigan into batter. (Either direct by hand or spoon)
4. Deep fry all slices, when they start to come up slowly turn over.
5.  Fry till it becomes golden brown on both sides (about 5-6 minutes each batch).
6. Remove the pakoda from oil, sprinkle Chat Masala over it.
7. Serve hot with tomato sauce and Green Chutney.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Baigan (egg plant) pakoda (fritters) by Nag Ratna Sahu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.