Spinach-Onion Pakoda

 With dipping temperatures, what better to have than hot pakoda with some hot filter coffee.. 

Pakodas are always hit and miss with me. Either they turn out PERFECT or they become rubbery/ elastic after cooling down.. I have no idea why..  

But over the years, after many many experiments, I seem to have gotten some grip over this. Please check below for more details.. 

Enjoy! 

Ingredients(as needed)

Onion - cut length wise 

Spinach - finely chopped 

Besan/ Kadle Hittu - as needed

Rice flour - very less(like 1 tsp or so)(*chk notes)

Red chili powder 

Turmeric - a generous pinch

Hing - 4-5 generous pinch- like 1/4 tsp (*chk notes)

Baking soda - a generous pinch(optional)(*chk notes)

Salt 

Method

In a mixing bowl add cut onion, spinach and all other ingredients. Don’t add all flour at once, add little by little and adjust accordingly. Give it a good mix and allow it to rest for at least 15-20 min. Do not add water at this point. 

After resting, onion leaves water, give it a good mix. Mostly this moisture should be enough to bring the batter together, but if not, sprinkle some water and give it a good mix. Don’t add water all at once. The texture of the batter/dough should be sticky, and you should be able to pinch out pakodas. 

In a deep kadai, heat oil for frying. When the oil is hot enough, wet your fingers and pinch out some batter/dough and carefully add to the oil. Deep fry until golden brown. 

Serve hot with some ketchup. Yum! 

Notes - 

• Generally many people add 1 : 1/4 rice flour for crunchiness, but that has never worked for me and I have figured this to be the main reason for rubbery texture. 
• Adding lots of hing enhances the flavor 
• Adding soda will always give a crispy, restaurant quality texture to the pakodas, but many of my friends do get a good texture without adding any soda by following the same procedure and adding same ingredients.