Sunday, August 29, 2010

Fried Eggplant Fritters

The Chinese eggplant I bought for this recipe was hilariously long, thick, and wiggly.
Indian foods have always been my thing, making-wise and eating-wise. Though I can make other types of foods, making Indian food is really easy for me. That's probably because I am Pakistani (we usually eat a combination of Indian and Pakistani dishes) but also because these are the types of foods my mother can most easily teach me to make. One Indian snack I made recently was fried eggplant fritters.

Eggplant fritters; before and after
Fried eggplant fritters (pakora in Urdu) are obviously made out of eggplants. But they are coated with besan flour (gram flour) before they are deep fried. I think I was a bit out of my mind when I decided to make this because I'm supposed to be dieting. Needless to say, I do not regret it because they tasted amazing.

First you completely dip a slice of eggplant in a besan flour and Indian spice mixture.
Truthfully, I was pretty skeptical at first. I mean, I know I just said that I love Indian food and all, but eggplants? Come on... But my doubts were proved wrong. Another good thing is that my grandpa from Pakistan is here spending his summer with us. He is an amazing cook and he really enjoys what he does. Luckily for me, he spends most of his time here passing his technique down to me. He was the one who convinced me to try this recipe. (Of course, my vegetarian sister helped).

Fry the dipped eggplants till they're golden brown.
Make sure to drain them well, or they become really oily.
Yummy!
The inside of the pakora was the biggest surprise to me. I've made fried Indian snacks many times before; onion pakora, potato pakora, and even green pepper pakora. These pakoras have always turned out crunchy. The eggplant pakora, however, was really soft and mushy which contrasted nicely with the crunchy outside. This is definitely a recipe everyone should try!

I like my food best with ketchup (I know that's totally un-Desi right there).
Saba said...

Every time you comment on my blog, I feel the need to comment on yours too(; hehe.. I love pakoras! And those up there made me hungry! woot. Post more blogs, I like reading yours(:

Ayesha said...

awesome! We make the same thing, but we cut them vertically to make long oval shapes :D

Wardah said...

Thanks Saba! But don't feel obligated, >_> I like reading your blog too, its so cute and interesting!

Really Ayesha? I've never heard of them made that way before :O But how cool

Radhika said...

Eating any food with ketchup is the desi-est idea EVER. That's all people are doing here in the motherland, they even eat pizza with ketchup. Yech!

Wardah said...

Hahaha, Radhika, that is very true! However, ketchup is popular in the US too, especially with fried foods.

Maggie said...

Could you share the recipe for the besan/spice coating? My son has been pestering me for some eggplant fritters like we used to eat in Benares and I can't figure out how to make them! Thank you!

Maggie said...
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