Home-cooked Vegetable Pakora can be a delight, way better than the twice fried, or otherwise reheated, offerings in restaurants. It is four years since Hector last prepared Pakora at home and today is only the second attempt in the decade of Curry-Heute. The recipe is here.
Back in April, near the start of Lockdown, Chapli Kebabs were attempted with limited success. Then I used packet of dedicated Spice Mix, a surplus of moisture, lack of integrity, and peely wally results after cooking, led to the bulk of the mixture ending up as omelette filling.
Having read a few online recipes, I set about preparing the Kebab mix. One suggested Scrambled Egg as a key ingredient not for Hector, let the Egg cook along with everything else. Last time, Turkey Mince was used, today Lamb Mince.
The paste was created by machine chopping the Onions and Garlic before blitzing the outcome with the Mint Sauce and Green Chillies, then the Fresh Coriander.
The Spices and one beaten Egg were mixed through the Mince, at this point I became worried. The Lamb Mince was decidedly coarse, how this was going to create the expected texture baffled. When the Onion-Garlic-Coriander paste was mixed through, the same problem as attempt #1 once again was manifested. Everything was too wet.
Setting the Kebab mix aside for a few hours, I was able to drain off quite a bit of the excess liquid. Rather than form the patties by hand, my Hamburger maker was employed in order to squeeze out even more liquid.
The patties were crumbly, I resisted putting everything back on the bowl and adding Breadcrumbs, yet this was the conclusion last time.
Chopping Onion and Potatoes into 3mm cubes is time consuming, perfect for this Quasi-Lockdown. Thereafter, everything was straightforward, though the resulting mix did look unusually dark.
Anticipating that moisture would be released as the mix settled before cooking, I had kept the Gram Flour to what felt like a minimum. Forming cohesive balls was the objective. To recreate the desired texture at the point of cooking, took way more Flour than expected. Today, I decided to go for large Pakora, approaching Bhaji.
The Yoghurt Dip was created in minutes, always tasty. I should try and think of more meals for which this could be an accompaniment.
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Chapli Kebab
Six patties, shallow fried, the first stayed whole, even when flipped and acquired the well fired status which I struggled to achieve using Turkey Mince in April. Thereafter, disaster!
The remaining patties disintegrated, I served Marg the decent one, I had little more than a pile of Spicy Mince. Tasting nothing like a Chapli Kebab, I called an end to this debacle. Fried Mince, what to do? I appear to have the basis for a Keema Karahi, all is not lost.
Larger pieces take longer to cook, doh! Instead of the light coloured Pakora hoped for, welcome to the world of Bhaji. Edible, quite tasty – doughy – remarked Marg. A change from the usual – meat and two veg – we still had a filling meal before us.
Hector has had better days.
Also, when making pakora, some times I’ve picked up: add some rice flour to your batter (to make it crispier) and sprinkle some kala namak over the cooked pakora.
Hector replies:
Noted.
The presenter is a bit over-the-top in terms of enthusiasm, but his series of videos covering regional street food across Pakistan, but if you haven’t seen these, you’ll likely enjoy.
Here’s a video on Chapli kebabs
https://youtu.be/Rj9LXnVkHlg
Hector replies:
Beef Chapli looks too much like a Burger. I like the pale, Chicken versions. However, if I change my mind, you’ll no doubt hear about the Buffalo grazing in the front garden.