I heart Indian food

(These aren't so beautiful, but they are delicious! )

Those flavor combinations- the spicy/savory/sweet/sour- and textures are just heavenly to me. But the disappointing thing is that most Indian recipes I've tried don't come close to the deliciousness to be had in restaurants.

When we lived in the city a few doors down from the famed (to us anyway) Punjabi Dhaba restaurant, we would go there every week or two. And my favorite dishes- either saag paneer or beigan bharta- were just perfect.  We used to go- with little Ava toddling along and for twelve or so dollars would roll out like stuffed pigs. It was SO good.

Though I've never been able to successfully reproduce my favorite dishes at home, there are a couple recipes I've found that rival those I can get out and about. Today I'm talking about pakoras. Normally I don't love deep frying food at home. But that little rule must be broken occasionally, if only to make pakoras- those delightfully spiced vegetable fritters.

A forewarning to the following recipe: it will make your house reek with the pungency of onions and hot oil.... the vent over the stove helps a bit...but the odor is persistent. For most people this is not so desirable, but I'm the kind of girl that uses up a ten pound bag of onions every other week. On a side note, a dish of white vinegar left on the counter will help quell some of the cooking odors.
Onion Pakora Recipe (from A Taste of Julie Jordan)
6 onions sliced into thin cresents
juice of two lemons
1 tablespoon salt (yes that's a lot of salt)
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 cups chick pea flour
Light vegetable oil for frying

1. Mix together the onions, lemon juice, salt and spices. In India the mixing is done vigorously with the hands. Squeeze the spices into the onions. Let sit for 30-60 minutes. The onions throw off juice which will become part of the batter when mixed with the chick pea flour.

2. After sitting time, mix in chick pea flour to onions.

3. In a medium sized frying pan ( I love my cast iron for this) measure oil about 1/2 inch deep and heat until a tiny bit of the batter dropped in sizzles. Pull out small handfuls of the onion mixture and drop in the oil. Fry each pakora until brown and crisp, turning once. Drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag.

4. Serve hot. Best absolutely fresh, but heat up nicely in the oven.

Variations:
replace 2 onions with a total of 2 cups of either (or a mixture of) finely chopped cabbage, spinach, grated zucchini or carrots.

Serve with:

Julie Sahni's Sweet and Spicy Tamarind Chutney:
4 ounces tamarind (about 1 tangerine size ball)
2 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/12 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dry ginger powder
2 teaspoons dry mango powder (or tablespoons lemon juice)
1/2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon course salt
1/4 cup sugar

1. Put tamarind in a nonmetallic bowl and add two cups boiling water. Soak for 30 minutes. Strain liquid, squeezing and mashing pulp to extract as much juice as possible, into another bowl. Add another 1/2 boiling water to the residue. When cool enough to handle, squeeze pulp again and strain the liquid. Measure the tamarind liquid. There should be 2 3/4 cups. Discard fibrous pulp. (I cheat on this whole process and just use tamarind concentrate mixed with hot water because I'm too lazy to soak and strain and repeat. I used to use the tamarind pulp, but it's a pain and way more messy).

2.To the bowl of tamarind liquid add all the other ingredients mixing well to blend. Serve as a dipping sauce aside the pakoras. Yum- yum.