Lauki ke pakoda (bottle gourd fritters)

• Servings: 3-4
• Preparation time: 10 minutes.
• Frying time: 6-7 minutes(each batch).
• Total time: 17 minutes.

I love the fresh, earthen aroma that engulfs the air. I enjoy eating “Lauki ka pakoda (bottle gourd fritters)” with hot ginger tea in the evening when it rains…

Ingredients:

• Lauki(Bottle Gourd): 200 gm
• Salt: 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder: ½ teaspoon
• Chilli powder: 1 teaspoon
• Ajwain (carom seeds): ¼ teaspoon
• Besan (gram flour): ½ cup
• Rice flour: 1 tablespoon
• Water: ½ cup
• Mustard oil: for deep frying

Preparation:

1. Peel off the lauki, make slices, marinate with ½ teaspoon of salt and turmeric powder to be used after 10 minutes.
2. Take a bowl. Put Besan, rice flour, salt, Ajwain and chilli powder in it, Make a smooth batter with the help of water.

Method:

1. Take fry pan, heat oil in it, let oil to smoke. Pour a drop of batter into the oil, If batter comes up slowly, it means right temperature of oil otherwise wait for a while and test again.
2. After getting right temperature of oil, dip 2-3 marinated lauki slices one by one or as many which can be accommodated as per quantity of oil. When they start to come up slowly turn over.
3. Fry till it becomes golden brown from both sides, Remove the pakoda from oil.
4. Deep fry all slices(5-6 minutes).
5. Serve hot with green chutney and tomato sauce followed by tea.
6. It can be served with any meal. It goes well with steamed rice and dal.

Lauki ke pakoda (bottle gourd fritters) by Nag Ratna Sahu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.