Quick Palak Pakoda or Spinach Bhaji

There is something about rainy days and bhajis (pakodas).

Picture this- It is raining cats and dogs outside, and you sitting in your favourite chair, sipping on a cup of tea, eating a plateful of hot steaming bhajis in your hand while listening to some soulful heart-rending ghazals. Thats my idea of bliss… Bombayite bliss.

Bhajis or Pakodas are a very popular kind of snack in India. Bhajis are essentially sliced vegetables dipped in a spicy chickpea flour(besan) batter and then deep fried. When I came to London, I was surprised to find the commonplace Onion bhaji occupying a pride of place on supermarket shelves.

There are a million different vegetables that you can fry in this batter – one of my  favourite is spinach.

Whether you normally like spinach or not – this is one plateful you ain’t gonna refuse.

Ingredients

• Besan- 4 tsp
• Rice flour - 4 tsp
• Water 21/2 - 3 cups
• Turmeric- 1/4 tsp
• Chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
• Salt
• Pepper- 1/4 tsp
• Grated ginger 1 inch
• Spinach leaves- whole- 1 cup packed
• Oil for frying

Method

1. Wash the spinach leaves. Let the water drain.

2. Mix the besan, spice, rice flour and water.

3. Do not mix all the water at once. Mix enough to get a thick consistency, so that the spinach leaf when dipped into it gets a coating.

4. Heat oil .

5. You could either plunge a handful of spinach leaves into the batter or dip them one by one. Either way, you pick them one at a time  and then put into the hot oil for frying.

6.Turn once. The bhajis need a couple of minutes frying on each side.

7. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on an  absorbent kitchen towel…. and watch them disappear!

Best served hot. For an additional twist, sprinkle some chaat masala or black salt on the bhajis just before serving.