Cauliflower Pakoras – The Modern Day Gardener
It’s harvesting time for some of us and this year we have a lot of cauliflower in our garden!
The cauliflower is such a versatile vegetable, you can steam it, roast it, make cauliflower cheese, turn it into rice and pizza bases – what can’t this vegetable do?!
I think they might be my favourite winter vegetable to grow, they are low maintenance (except for those pesky butterflies!) and it’s so rewarding when they all start to grow.
I wanted to spice up cauliflower and make some cauliflower pakoras. A pakora is a batter made up from gram flour (chickpea) seasoned with spices, water, and vegetables, then deep fried – absolutely delicious!
My recipe below is completely vegan and so easy to make at home!
Ingredients:
– 1 large cauliflower
– 150g gram/chickpea flour
– 1/2 tbsp cumin
– 1/2 tbsp tumeric
– 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
– 1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1/2 tsp baking powder
– salt & pepper
– 150-175ml cold water
– 1-2 cups of vegetable oil for frying
– 1/2 cup coconut yoghurt
– 1-2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce or hot sauce
Method:
- Wash the cauliflower thoroughly and chop into bite sized florets
- In a medium to large sized bowl, add the chickpea flour, cumin, turmeric, smoked paprika, garlic powder, baking powder, salt, pepper and chilli powder (if using)
- Slowly pour in the water and whisk until the mixture coats the back of the spoon, enough to coat the cauliflower but not run off it.
- Heat the vegetable oil to 180 degrees celsius, if you don’t have a thermometer, you can test the temperature by putting the tip of a wooden spoon in and if bubbles start building up around the spoon, it should be good!
- Add one floret at a time and when it hits the oil, it should bubble and start deep frying. Top tip: don’t overcrowd the pot.
- Cook for 3-5 minutes or until golden and remove from the oil and put on a paper towel.
- Once all cooked, sprinkle with salt (I like to use flaky sea salt).
- Serve with coconut yoghurt topped with a sweet chilli or hot sauce.
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