Recipe: Pakoras (for all your forgotten vegetables)
Raghenie: ‘As far as I’m concerned, pakoras were made for using up forgotten vegetables. I mean literally forgotten vegetables, although I also think it’s perfectly fine if you get to work with salsify, rutabaga, Jerusalem artichoke and parsnip. So if you still have half a cabbage, a stray potato or a sad eggplant lying around at the end of the week: this is your sign.’
‘You envelop the forgotten vegetables in a velvety coat of fried chickpea-flour batter seasoned with the most delicious spices. Nothing sad about them anymore. Free tip: a pinch of baking soda and the right frying temperature will give you a crunch that makes your neighbour file a noise complaint with the residents’ committee. We’ll deal with that later.’
How to make pakoras
- Cut your starchy vegetables into thin strips (julienne); you can grate potatoes coarsely. The idea is for your vegetables to remain large enough to taste, but small enough to blend into the mixture so that everything feels like a whole. In a bowl, mix the onion with the vegetables, salt, ginger and garlic from the mortar, turmeric, chilli, masala, black pepper and yoghurt. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Mix the chickpea flour and baking soda into the vegetable mixture and knead until cohesive. Add 50 to 100 millilitres of water if necessary; we are aiming for a runny batter.
- For the raita, halve the cucumber lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Finely grate the cucumber and mix in the salt. Leave to stand for 10 minutes. Place the grated cucumber on a clean tea towel, fold the towel closed and squeeze out as much moisture from the cucumber as possible over the sink. In a bowl, mix the squeezed cucumber with the yoghurt, pomegranate seeds, mint, cumin seeds and coriander. Season to taste with lime juice and extra salt, if desired.
- Choose a wok or pan large enough to fry 5 pakoras at once and fill it halfway with oil. Heat the oil to 170 °C. Use a kitchen thermometer, or test whether the oil is hot enough by dropping in a drop of batter. If it immediately rises to the surface and the oil bubbles around it, the oil is hot enough.
- Fry small balls, about the size of a golf ball, of the vegetable-batter mixture in the oil for approximately 4 to 5 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Turn the pakoras regularly. Remove the pakoras from the oil with a slotted spoon and briefly drain on kitchen paper.
- Serve the pakoras with the raita and, if desired, some lime wedges and a little fresh coriander and potato chutney.
Title: Madame Jeanette
Author: Raghenie Bhawanie
Price: €34.99
Publisher: Nijgh & van Ditmar
In Madame Jeanette, Raghenie serves more than a hundred dishes, most of them featuring vegetables centre stage. Think bami, pom, Surinamese brown beans with rice, chutney, pickles and mango pie. She also explains in this cookbook that food with a kick does not always have to be spicy, and that Surinamese food certainly does not have to be heavy, difficult or time-consuming.
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