Bread pakoda

Does sight of street food entice you? It definitely does to me! Heaps of Samosa, Aloo bonda, Mirchi Vada always brings a gush of happiness and hunger inside me. And after I am done with the eating part , I always wonder had I been a food seller, would I have been able to sell things without gulping them down? Who knows..may be at the end of the day I would have only fed myself instead of selling to the customers! Yes, such is my strong affection towards certain street food.

Different states of India have their own pet peeves when it comes to street food. And here I present one of my favorite street food from Maharashtra, the ubiquitous Bread Pakoda. The recipe can be deconstructed as sandwich dipped in a batter of chick pea flour and deep fried! Bread pakoda brings a zing in your taste bud when you take a bite at the fried green chillies! And the best part is, you can always team up Bread pakoda with a cup of hot Chaai and subdue the heat quotient from chilies!

Recipe for Bread Pakoda ( makes about 8 pieces):

• Brown bread - 4 pieces ( white bread can be also used)
• Boiled and mashed potato - 3 medium sized
• Garlic coves - 3
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• Black mustard seeds - 1/4 th tea spoon
• Cumin seeds - 1/4 th tea spoon
• Salt
• Chick pea flour - sieved - 1 cup
• Baking powder - a pinch
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Green chillies - a handful

 Process :

Stuffing and sandwich:

•  Make some holes in the potato by poking a fork and put them into hot boiling water ( with a pinch of salt).Boil the potatoes until till tender. Once they are done, don't let them sit in water for too long, otherwise they will become soggy and this might extend the cooking time.
• Peel and mash the potatoes and ensure there are no lumps left. Check for salt and if needed, add some salt.
• Put vegetable oil in a pan. Once it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Stir them for few seconds. ( If the oil is sufficiently hot, the mustard seeds will splutter). Add minced garlic to the oil and stir for a minute or two so that the raw smell of garlic is gone.
• Add the mashed potatoes to the spiced oil and mix everything together. Let it cook for 5-6 mins
• Take 2 bread pieces and make a sandwich out of the mashed potatoes. Lightly grill them in a pan ( I add a heavy weight, like a kettle filled with water on the top of sandwich so that it becomes firm)
• Cut the sandwich in halves ( alternately cut it into 4 small pieces for smaller size pakodas)

Preparing the batter and frying:

• Sieve chick pea flour in a bowl to ensure there are no lumps
• Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of baking powder
• Slowly add water and keep stirring to get a smooth consistent mixture. Don;t make it too runny mixture, otherwise the chickpea flour coating will not adhere to the pakoda.
• Heat oil in a pan. ( To check the oil temperature, put a little drop of batter to the oil, if the drop floats back immediately, the temperature is right for frying)
• Take a sandwich, dip it in the mixture and fry it in the oil till they are slightly brown in all sides
• For the mirchi fries ( chilly fries) take green chillies and poke them with a toothpick.Fry them in a pan with little oil. Sprinkle salt on the chillies before you serve them.
• Serve Pakodas with green chillies on the side and a cup of tea!