Quick Pakodas with Leftovers

The rains have finally arrived. Finally! Well ... the sky has been overcast for two whole days at a stretch .... it has been windy ... there has been a light spray of water the whole of yesterday ... and it actually drizzled today. So hopefully I can say .... finally the monsoon has arrived.

Unlike the rains that I am used to on the coast back home .... heavy and relentless, pelting down ever so heavily ... with thunder , lightning and a wild wind as a bonus ... this hilly little city gets a very calm and quiet monsoon. The whole day there will be a quiet rain ... you won't hear anything and will realise it's raining only when you look out.

The hilltops are already covered with clouds .... and the hills have turned a bluish green ... well ... or a greenish blue ... whatever .... but they look beautiful after looking so drab and brown the whole year through.

And it turns cold in the monsoons here .... no siree ... not the damp, heavy and humid monsoons here. It turns cool and then cold ... enough to get out light woollens and blankets. I soooo loooove this weather. :-)


So this evening I felt like having something spicy,hot and quick to celebrate the monsoons... I love watching the rains on the hill and trees from the wide bay windows. The husband called to say he would be home early .... declined his offer to get something to eat .... and set off to make some bhajjis.

Then seeing a lot of stuff in the fridge ... thought of making something different .... not to mention I really did not feel like spending a lot of part of the beautiful evening standing in the kitchen and shedding tears on onions.

I found some leftover dal and bread .... you can use any leftover curries too ... chopped up some onions and green chillies and mashed them all together. I had some sweet corn kernels ... so threw in some ... and am glad I did. And oh yes .... had some leftover fried rice ... so threw in a fistful of that too ... the beans and carrots in the snaps are from that.

The best part with leftovers is you need not add any masala or spice ... they have their own. Just adjust the salt .... due to the bread.
And deep fry them .... that's all. C'mon .... don't give me that look ...

.... you enjoy the begining of monsoon only once ... or twice ... or thrice. ;-) Am sure in a few weeks we will be complaining about the dull weather and rain and water logging etc. etc. So enjoy some fried stuff while you can.

Need : Whatever leftover dry sabzi / curry you have in the fridge, some leftover dal ( better than plain bland water ), chopped onions, chopped green chillies, some cornflour, salt to taste and oil for deep frying.

How to : Mash everything together. Shape into small balls . Heat oil and deep fry them till golden brown.
Done! :-)
This turned out to be the quickest thing I have ever cooked. :-)


Want a bite? Dig in. :-)
Great with some ketchup and steaming hot tea !