Spinach-Onion Fritters (Pakoda)

8/2/2023

Fried, crispy fritters made with spinach, onion & ginger-garlic paste. Crunchy enough to make you crave them again and again!

Indians LOVE pakodas (fritters) and on rainy days, it is guaranteed that you will see them being served in Indian households. But again, who doesn't love fritters - crispy and fried. Yummy!
And again, as with all Garden Recipes, we add as much veggies to our diet.

Onions are a must in all my recipes. So, I have added both onions as well as spinach in this. The aroma is out of this world! Add to it some ginger-garlic and you can't resist.

Here is why this is a great recipe -

1. It contains onion - a sulfur-rich vegetable, thus a potent anti-cancer ingredient.

2. Contains spinach, ginger-garlic, cilantro, turmeric and cayenne - all rich in nutrients, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and blood-cleansing as well. Cayenne, cilantro, ginger, garlic are all powerful blood detoxifiers. So use them as much as you can in your diet.

3. It's great when you need a snack or craving something fried. Better to have this then fried food from outside made with hydrogenated, burnt oils and too much white salt or sugar and other chemicals added to it.

4. Again, for you, a one-pot dish! Quick, easy and convenient even to serve for guests as appetizer or snack or even for pot-luck parties.

5. Stores well - you can store the batter for 2-3 days OR you can make these and just reheat them again.

6. A lunch-box favorite!

7. Fried lightly in heart healthy grape seed oil - in ceramic pan with less oil. Hence, less wastage and much healthier.

8. Not to mention, it does not contain wheat or corn - yuck!

Ingredients -

1. 4 organic yellow onions
2. 1 bunch organic spinach
3. 1 bunch organic cilantro
4. 4-5 garlic cloves - chopped in small
5. 1 inch ginger chopped
6. 2 green chillis
7. Chickpea flour/gram flour or called besan - about 1 cup and adjust per batter

Spices and oil -

1. Grape seed oil
2. Organic Himalayan sea salt
3. Turmeric - 1 whole teaspoon
4. Cayenne - 1/3 teaspoon - start with less if you don't know - adjust later after taste testing.

Simple steps -

1. In steel pan, add all the ingredients (1-7). Now add the turmeric, cayenne and salt. Now start adding 1/2 cup water and mix to see how thick the batter is. If too thin, add more flour. It should be thick enough to stick together.

2. In ceramic pan, add oil. Keep on medium.

3. TEST IT FIRST - Take a mini-size scoop of the batter and put in oil. Once done, taste it. If all spices seem good, make the rest of fritters. Otherwise adjust, test with mini-size scoop again and taste.

4. Make the rest until golden fried. Enjoy! And here I am off to eating with my dogs - yes, they get some of it too and they love it...:)

Servings -

To reduce the quantity, all you have to do is reduce the batter quantity accordingly. So, reduce the onions and little bit of spinach and adjust the spices. Simple!
To increase more (if making for guests,etc) - Add more onions, spinach and you can even add on more veggies like potato, organic corn, green beans, etc of your choice. Adjust the spices at the end - fry a small pinch size one and taste. Then, adjust your batter accordingly. Simple!

Composting -

As with all new positive habits, let's start another one - lets start composting. Put unused parts of veggies and mix them in your soil - this is free organic fertilizer - healthier, free of chemicals and a sacred service to mother Earth - Gaia. If you live in condos/apartment complex, then just find a large bush of plants/grass and offer to them this compost. The soil will use it and the plants will benefit. Please start composting.

This is it. Dish made, ketchup out - ready to serve!

Complement this with -

Guests coming over? Want 1 pot clean-up? In mood for some colorful, spicy noodles that would go really well with this? Don't worry - Here is the solution.

Super easy and quick to make and the BEST part? You make them in the SAME CERAMIC pan you used just now to fry your fritters. Click on link and enjoy!

Veggie Stir-Fry Noodles