“These pakoras are crisp-edged, highly-spiced and everything I want to eat with friends,” says cookery writer, Anna Jones.
“I like to eat these with my lemon and cardamom dhal on or biryani. They are also great wrapped in a chapati with the green sauce and some crunchy shredded veg.”
Cashew nut pakoras with green dipping sauce
Equipment
- Frying pan
- Blender
Ingredients
For the pakoras
- 100 g cashew nuts
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 handful of fresh curry leaves
- 1 green chilli thinly sliced
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger finely grated
- 3 cloves of garlic finely grated
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- groundnut or vegetable oil for shallow frying
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 80 g chickpea flour
- 2 tbsp ghee softened
- salt
- black pepper
For the green sauce
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- bunch of coriander stalks and leaves
- 1/2 bunch of mint leaves picked, stalks discarded
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 clove of garlic peeled
- 1 green chilli
- 1 tsp honey or agave syrup
- 1 unwaxed lime juiced
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
To serve
- lime dressed salad leaves optional
Method
- Measure the cashew nuts into a small, heatproof bowl and cover with double the volume of hot water. Set aside.
- Next, make the green dipping sauce. Toast the mustard and cumin seeds in a dry deep frying pan until the cumin smells fragrant and the mustard seeds start to pop. Remove from the heat and tip into a blender with the rest of the green dipping sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth (adding up to two tablespoons of cold water to loosen if you need – it should be like thick yoghurt), then taste and add more salt, lime or honey to balance. Cover and set aside.
- Mix the onion, chilli powder, curry leaves, chilli, ginger, garlic, fennel and cumin seeds in a large mixing bowl and give it a really good scrunch. Season generously with salt and black pepper and leave to one side. Drain the cashews well and add to the bowl.
- Add 3cm-depth of oil to the frying pan and heat gently over a low-medium heat. Add the bicarbonate of soda, chickpea flour and ghee to the mixing bowl along with 60ml of cold water and mix until it comes together in a chunky batter.
- Test to see if the oil is ready by dropping a little of the mixture into the hot oil. If it sizzles and rises to the top it is ready. Add tablespoons of the mixture to the hot oil, a few at a time so as not to overcrowd the pan. Fry for a couple of minutes each side, using a slotted spoon to turn them over. Drain the cooked pakora on kitchen paper and continue until all the mixture has been used.
- Season with a pinch of salt while warm and serve with the dipping sauce and some lime-dressed salad leaves if you like.
Nutrition
One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones, photography by Issy Croker, is published by Fourth Estate.
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