Chicken Pakoras

[A Scottish Chef]

Chicken Pakoras

Traditional Scottish Dishes - Chicken Pakora!

A slight variation on the recipe given to me by Babu the Pakistani chef who taught me. It is really simple, but tastes quite fantastic and is commonly eaten here as a snack on it's own or as a starter.

• 1 kilogram chicken filet sliced into 2-3 inch pieces
  
• 300-400g besan (gram) flour
  
• 2 T (heaped) Patak's tandoori paste
  
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
  
• 1 T (level) sugar (castor is best)
  
• 1 tsp (heaped) chili powder
  
• 1 tsp (heaped) garam masala
  
• 1 T (heaped) curry powder (see note)
  
• 1 T (level) deep red colour poweder (orange if you prefer, but red is a delight to contrast with the coriander leaves when serving)
  
• 5-600 ml water
  
• 2 T lemon juice
  
• Enough cooking oil to fill a pan 4-5 inches deep
  

SIMPLE PAKORA DIPPNG SAUCE

• 250 ml good tomato ketchup
  
• 250 ml water
  
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1 tsp mint sauce
  
• 1 T lemon juice
  

1. Mix the chilli, garam masala, salt, sugar, food colour, curry powder, lemon juice and tandoori paste together until you have a thick, deep purple paste.

2. Add the water a little at a time and mix thoroughly until you have a thinnish liquid.

3. Add the Besan flour stirring consistently until you have a thick batter like consistency. This needs to be stirred a lot to avoid unblended lumps of besan.

4. Add the chicken strips and mix them until you have them completely coated and leave this to marinate for at least 4 hours. Overnight in the fridge is best of all.

5. Heat the oil to 300F.

6. Drop the coated strips of chicken into the fat one at a time (no more than 6 or seven in a batch) and fry for three minutes. This will result in a firm coating and the chicken will be very moist. You can cook it longer if you prefer a crunchier pakora.

SIMPLE PAKORA DIPPING SAUCE.

Mix sauce ingredients well and serve in a small bowl. Easy!

The finished pakora can be served with a raita, a simple dipping pakora sauce (recipe above) and garnished with coriander leaves and lemon slices. It also works brilliantly served in hot, fresh pitta with salad and a light chilli sauce. It's a great sliced for pizza topping and can even be used as a main course when served with a milder curry sauce and pilau rice.

Keywords: Indian, Appetizer, Easy, Chicken, Deep Fryer

( RG115 )