There is a nice cool breeze blowing now in Bangalore and it sometimes results in a mild fog in the morning. When you step out of the house you rub your hands together for the little warmth that it gives you. You want all meals to be piping hot and you know you shouldn’t leave clothes out overnight because it will get wet in the morning with all the dew. Hot tea is welcome at all times and if it is with some crunchy pakoda then you feel total bliss. So this is for the Bangalore weather!

Only when you have the need to finish off an ingredient soon do you realize that there are recipes you have never tried. I have had bhajiyas and pakodas from a variety of ingredients but somehow missed the mint leaf. So this theme and the large bunch of mint led me to the discovery of mint pakoda. It is very similar to the onion pakoda, not bhaji made in the ‘Bhavan’ restaurants of Chennai but the thin crispy pakodas made in Mumbai. Chennai onion bhaji is dicing the onions horizontally and deep frying them in chickpea flour similar to potato and raw banana fritters. But the pakoda version is thinly dicing onions and separating them completely and then mixing them with minimal chickpea flour, just enough to coat it and then adding very little water and deep frying them which ensures the very crispy version. I followed the same method for the mint leaves and it turned out quite good. So here goes –

WHAT WE NEED

Fresh mint leaves                                  from 15 stalks

Chickpea flour / Besan                         2-3 tbsp

Ajwain                                                        1/4 tsp

Red chilly powder                                   1/2 – 1 tsp

Oil for deep frying

Water

Salt

WHAT TO DO

• Wash the mint leaves thoroughly
• Heat the oil in a pan
• In a medium bowl, take the mint leaves, chickpea flour, ajwain, chilly powder and salt and mix well
• Add water little by little to bring all the ingredients together
• Ensure that the chickpea flour coats all the mint leaves fully
• Once the oil is hot, take a spoonful of the mint mixture and gently drop into the oil
• Fry till the pakodas turn golden brown and then take it off the oil
• Repeat till the entire mixture is similarly deep fried
• Serve hot with ketchup or any chutney of your choice
• Enjoy with a cup of tea!

This is my post for the Blogging Marathon under the theme – One ingredient Three Dishes.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for other marathoners doing this BM.