MUNG DAL PALAK KE PAKODE /SUPER CRISP MUNG DAL-SPINACH FRITTERS
As the evening falls, I long for some hot and crisp to satisfy my cravings. Winter and rainy evenings push you to the kitchen to deep fry something to enjoy with Chai. The need is just to keep a kadahi which is full of oil to deep fry a crunchy snack. Fritters or crisp pakode are very appropriate to munch and if the fritters have some spinach, the taste increases to manifold
I am the person to take full advantage of seasonal veggies especially spinach(palak). Winters provide fresh and juicy spinach to use in numerous dishes. Fritters or pakode are one such. The easiest to cook and the tastiest to the satisfaction. The split mung dal batter is folded with finely chopped spinach and a few whole and powdered spices. A little quantity of besan helps to bind the batter. This batter is deep-fried with small super crisp fritters. The soaked mung dal is ground coarsely to get a result of crispy-crunchy mung dal palak ke pakode. Let’s start yummy pakode😋
Prep time- 3 hrs
Cook time – 15-20 minutes
Course – Evening snack/ Hi-Tea
Cuisine – North India (Delhi, Up, etc)
Author- Bharti Dhawan
INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
• Yellow(split) Mung Dal – 1 cup
• Water for rinsing and soaking dal – As required
• Washed and finely chopped palak(spinach leaves) – 1 cup (200 gms)
• Besan(chickpea flour) – 1tbsp
• While cumin(jeera) – 1 tsp
• Roasted jeera(cumin) – 1 tsp
• Crushed black pepper – 1/2 tsp
• Red chilly flakes – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Finely chopped ginger – 1-inch piece
• Finely chopped green chilies – 1 no
• Oil for frying – sufficient enough
HOW TO MAKE MUNG-PALAK KE PAKODE
1- Firstly, soak mung dal for 3-4 hours and grind coarsely.
2- Whisk with hand or a wire whisk until it gets fluffy and light
3- Add salt and all the spices, ginger, and chilies. Whisk again to mix well. Add chopped spinach and mix well.
4- Add besan to the batter and combine well. Keep at rest for 10 minutes
5- Whilst, heat oil at medium heat. The oil should be very hot to deep fry. Drop small fritters with your fingers or a spoon into the hot oil.
6- Deep fry the fritters by turning at intervals until golden brown and enjoy these super crispy with tomato ketchup
NOTES AND TIPS
* A pinch of baking soda can be added to the batter. Soda makes them little softer and fluffy but absorbs much oil
* The spinach should be dry otherwise the batter will be too runny to fry
* Mung dal should not be ground too pasty but a little coarse. Coarse dal makes crisp pakode
* Besan helps to bind the batter
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