Bread Pakoras

Its been a very hot summer this year and almost everyday I have been trying to make something chilly like smoothies & lemonade as thirst quenchers. With extreme heat, we have been avoiding outdoors mostly this summer. I try making a few new snacks whenever I have some time in the afternoon and I now look forward to making them everyday since they don't require a lot of thought and could be pretty satisfying for a mini meal. I try to keep it healthy as much as possible like Yogurt parfait, Fruit medley, Fruit muffins etc.

Today, for a change I tried a hot and savory snack - Bread Pakoras. This is a great snack when you have those few extra slices of bread that you don't want to waste. And a  great tea-time snack too!

For the Batter

• Gram Flour (Besan) - 1 cup
• Rice flour - 2 tbsp
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda - a pinch
• Salt - as required

 For the Stuffing

• Bread Slices - 6 (White or Wheat, medium size)
• Potatoes - 1 large
• Chopped vegetables - 1/2 cup (Peas, Carrots, French beans - mixed)
• Ginger - 1 tsp (finely chopped)
• G.Chillies - 2 (finely chopped)
• Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Corriander leaves - a hand full (finely chopped)
• Salt - as required
• Green chutney (Optional) - 1 tbsp (store bought is fine)
• Oil to deep fry

Procedure

• Boil the potatoes, peel and mash them. Set aside.
• Boil all other vegetables together, drain and save the water, mash the vegetables slightly with a laddle.
• Add the mashed potatoes to the vegetables and mix well.
• Now add salt, ginger, g.chillies, cumin seeds and corriander leaves and mix well to make a thick stuffing.
• Make 6 medium sized balls out of this mixture and arrange it on a plate.
• Heat oil for deep frying.
• Prepare the batter by mixing all ingredients given under batter along with some water. The batter needs to be a little watery and not thick.
• Transfer the cooked water from the vegetables in a wide bowl.
• Take a bread, cut off the crusts and quickly dip the slice in the vegetable water. The slice should be fully wet, but not over soaked.
• Place the wet slice flat on your palm, use the other palm and squeeze out the excess water.
• Spread the green chutney on the bread and then place a vegetable ball on the slice. Cover it with the slice and seal the top. To make it easy, I usually use a round shaped cookie cutter and cut the wet slice to a round slice - this is easy to cover and seal the stuffing. If not, you can still make it with square slices and remove the excess bread left at the top while sealing.
• Dip it in the batter and deep fry it in oil under medium heat until golden brown.
• Repeat it with all other slices and drain the excess oil in a paper towel.

Serve hot with sweet chutney and hot tea!