Homemade Pakora Mix

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I have said it before and I will say it again – Mama Jafri is a practical lady and a force to be reckoned with. At some point she realized that spending so much time making pakora mix daily in Ramadan was quite ridiculous and started making huge batches of a dry pakora mix. Then at iftar time she would add a little water and whatever she was in the mood for.

My favourite: sliced boiled eggs. It sounds weird, but that is literally my favourite pakora. Green chutney not optional.

Now it is my mother in law who loves pakoras and iftar, so this year I decided it makes sense to make a batch of pakora mix and keep it aside to use over Ramadan. We never need to fry a lot of pakoras and the way I see it if you are going to eat fried food it should be fresh fried food and not yesterdays. So this way we can fry a few pakoras at a time, enjoy them, and call it a day.

I recently got a really good pakora tip from a friend, Freda uses carbonated water for her pakoras to get airy delicious crisp beauties. I have not tried it yet, but it sounds like pure genius! 

Oh and you can totally use this mix as a base for your Kadhi as well! That recipe will be on the blog sometime after Ramadan!

Notes (Added May 19th 2018) – Thanks for all the love on this recipe! I just wanted to share a few quick things. If you want softer pakoras, skip the cornstarch, that adds a little crunch. Also with baking soda if you put too much it will give you an after taste. Besan also does not keep well indefinitely so try to use a bag you bought within the last 6 months 🙂

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Pakora Mix

an all purpose pakora mix that you can premix and keep!

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Indian, Pakistani

Ingredients

• 4 cups besan
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp ajwain (optional)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Instructions

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a clean air tight jar, they will easily last two weeks or more.

2. To make pakoras - take out some of the dry mix.

   For plain pakoras put 3/4 the amount of water to the dry mix and fry on medium heat till golden

Recipe Notes

This recipe is a base - it is not particularly spicy and you can get creative and add your flavour mix ins of choice when making the pakoras - green chillies, kasuri methi, onions, potatoes, sliced boiled eggs, spinach, chillies, etc.

If you like your food to have less salt then dial back the salt by 1/4 tbsp 

Looking for other Iftar snacks? Try one of these!

Asian Inspired Corn Fritters

Chicken & White Sauce Squares

Jalapeno Popper Samosas