Shrimp Pakora | Sybaritica

I have posted a couple of recipes for the lovely little deep-fried snacks known as Pakoras, but this one uses Besan, or chickpea flour, giving them the perfect Indian taste. These particular Pakoras use tiny little cocktail shrimp and are really easy to make…

The Ingredients

• ¾ cup tiny Shrimp;
• 3 tbsp. Onion, finely chopped;
• 2 tbsp. Red Bell Pepper, finely chopped;
• 1 tbsp. fresh green Chili, finely chopped;
• 6 tbsp. Besan;
• 1 tbsp. Turmeric;
• ½ tsp. each Salt and Black Pepper;
• ½ tsp. Celery Seed;
• ½ tsp. ground Cumin.
• ¼ cup Water (more or less).

These are the shrimp I am using. Our local supermarket has been carrying them frozen for a while now and the package size is perfect for me. You can use larger shrimp and chop them up but the flavor of these is terrific (I uses them for my Shrimp Cocktail, in fact). The canned cocktail size are a fairly tasty substitute too but, unfortunately, the texture is nowhere near as good).

The Method

First, blend together the besan, turmeric, salt, pepper, celery seed and cumin and then add enough water (including any thrown off by the frozen shrimp) to make a very thick batter (about a quarter cup should do it). Now mix in the shrimp and other solid ingredients so that you have a firm mass that will ‘pile’ up rather than settling into a level pool of batter. You can add more water or besan to get this right.

Heat deep-frying oil to medium and then pick up a generous heaping teaspoon of the batter mixture (using two spoons helps). Drop it carefully into the oil and repeat, doing no more than 4 or 6 at a time. Make sure the oil is not too hot as you want the pakoras to cook all the way through without getting too dark on the outside. As they float to the surface of the oil, remove to paper towels to blot dry. Continue until the batter is all done and then serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.

The Verdict

I served these Pakoras with a little cucumber salad dressing and chopped green onion but you could use a sweet chili sauce, chili pickle in yoghurt, or anything that suits your fancy.

I would like to say that I enjoyed these but, sadly, I just wasn’t feeling all that well and just couldn’t get excited about any sort of food on the evening I made these. My wife, however, pronounced them delicious and ate all but the one I tasted. I guess I’ll have to do this again when I feel a bit better…

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