Spring Onion Pakodas - made on 22nd Feb, 2012

What did I use:

1 teaspoon Ghee

1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 bunch Spring Onions (scallions), finely chopped (measures about 2 cups)

3/4 cup Chickpea Flour/Besan

2 tablespoons cups Rice Flour

1-2 teaspoons Red Chili Powder (or as per taste)

1/2 teaspoon Salt (or as required)

A pinch Asafoetida Powder/Hing

Water to sprinkle

Oil for frying

How did I cook:

For dough:

Take a large bowl; add ghee and baking soda and rub it nicely with the tip of your fingers until it's nice and foamy.

To this add the chopped spring onions and salt; mix everything together with your fingers and set aside for at least 5 minutes (and maximum 10 minutes) so that the salt will enable some water secretion.

After 5 minutes add the chickpea flour, rice flour, chili powder, hing and a teaspoon of hot oil and mix it thoroughly. The dough will be sticky. Have a small bowl filled with water nearby, so that you can dip your fingers in the water and mix the dough easily. Do not pour down the water in the dough. The water from the salt and a little sprinkle while mixing the dough is all it needs if you want very crispy (like store bought) pakodas.

For deep frying:

Heat oil for frying in a deep and heavy bottomed pan (Kadai) even before preparing the dough.

Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small piece of the dough in the oil and it should float atop almost immediately. If the oil is in high heat, reduce it to medium. When frying at high heat the snack will become red very quickly but the inside will be raw. If the heat is very low, the pakodas will not be crispy and will also absorb a lot of oil. So the temperature of the oil is very important for deep frying snacks.

Pinch about 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of dough and drop it in the hot oil. Depending on the size of the pan, you can fry a couple of pakodas in one batch.

Fry it until it's golden brown and the sizzling sound of the oils stops.