Friday 3 July 2009

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 !

27 comments:

  1. Oh i would love to have a bite:) perfect for monsoon season!

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  2. This sounds yummmm.. and looks really appealing too.. good idea to use leftovers too.. Great job and tempting clicks too.

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  3. Lucky you!! Brishti porchhe...ekhane amader meghla akaash dekhei khushi thaakte hochhe!!

    The pakoras have me drooling....*slllurrrp* ...I love corn kernels, baby corn...

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  4. Wow - awesome... Beautifully described monsoons. I love pakoras with rains, yours looks quick and easy too...

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  5. Pakoras and the rain. Now that's a classic combination.
    It sounds beautiful where you are, Sharmila. I wish I could see hilltops covered with clouds here...sigh.

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  6. Love the beauty the first rain brings after the hot summer.Tasty pakodas with left overs,sure to brighten a rainy day :)

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  7. Looks so yummy, never thought the left over dishes can turn into such a delicious and tempting one. Beautiful clicks.

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  8. i'm not a big fan of deep-frying, but these look so yummy

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  9. loved your write-up, sharmila....bristir sange garam garam cha aar pakora...aar ki chai..left-over diye pakora, kono din banai ni, but sounds great

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  10. pakodas look so yum,..,u r so lucky to hve rain,..enjoy the weather,...

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  11. Thanks Parita! Go on ... it's all yours. :-)

    Thanks Nithya, Somoo, Vaishali, Yasmeen, A2Z, Indrani, Priyanka ! :-)

    Thanks Sharmistha! Chinta koro na .. tumio brishti pabe. :-)

    Thanks Justin! Neither am I ... but some combinations are inseparable ... like spicy & hot pakodas and the rain. :-)

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  12. ekhane brishti hoyeo thanda hochey na.. shara din praye berotei para jachey na.

    darun idea.. ei bhabe kono din pakora korini.

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  13. With the scorching heat here, we could use some rains :-) The only look I am giving you is that of jealousy. I am just green with envy looking at the crunchy bite :-))

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  14. Perfect for this monsoon season.Yummy presentation.
    Drop in sometime

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  15. Wow ... perfect to use leftover veggie & dals ....Brister sandher jonno ekdom perfect , sudhu sathe ektu cha lagbe ...

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  16. Mercy Sharmila, you are making me jealous with your monsoon and hills and pakodas!!! Its a killing combination yaar...:)

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  17. yummy sharmila..so tempting!

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  18. looks so crispy and yum! :)

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  19. looks awesome....will go perfect with coriander chutni..

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  20. Left over dal and bread? Never knew they had such possibilities...I loved the description of the monsoon season. And to hell with caution regarding fried food, you only live once.

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  21. Bah tomar okhane bristi'r katha pore bhari aram holo. Ekhane summer kintu gorom ebare ar porche na, duto bachar i jar ar thanda laga, bhabo to ki rokom summer

    Pakoda, left overs diye, darun idea

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  22. your blog is beautiful,pics r good...and finally the concept of making pakoras with leftovers sounds interesting ! i will try this. hoping to see u in my kitchen too!

    krishnokolee.blogspot.com

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  23. Thanks Soma! Kore dekho ekbar ... joto leftover ache dhele diyo .. khub mojar hoye taste ar flavor ta. :-)

    :-) RC. Hope you get some rain too. And thanks!

    Thanks Chaitra! :-)

    Baniye felo Dolon. And thanks! :-)

    :-) Joyeeta. Eta o ekta incentive hote pare ... ki bolo? And thanks!

    Thanks Valli, Vibhaas, Preeti! :-)


    Thanks Aparna! What with the rain gods playing traunt, we might have to end up saying 'it rains only once' sometime in the future. :-)

    Thaks Sandeepa! Eta khub dry ar hilly area bole thanda ta praye thake. Aha re ... bacchader shorir kharap hole toh boro baaje byapar.

    Ki je shob hocche seasons gulor ... shob ulto palta hoye geche. :-)

    Thanks Indira! :-)

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  24. Sharmi dear I'm sorry,there was a mistake in the ingredients list.The bread has yeast,how I wish I had a recipe for braided bread without yeast :)

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  25. How sweet of you to come over and let me know Yasmeen! No probs .. it is high time I got over this thing about yeast .. so am going to try it for sure ... albeit with dried rosemary. :-)

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  26. That looks AWESOME! I'd love to bite into one of these when it's pouring outside:)

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  27. I love your description of the monsoon rains starting - takes me right back to my childhood in Pune - thanks! And I love the idea of left over pakodas...very creative.

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