Uncle Saddique’s Chicken Pakora’s

I tried experimenting with my usual pakora mix and loved the result. This recipe is inspired by one of my favourite people, my Uncle Saddique – one of the kindest, gentlest and good-natured people I know. Uncle Saddique has a thing for pakora’s and used to work in a takeaway. During Ramadan, at iftar (fast-breaking) time, he would mix up a pakora batter and drop pieces of fried chicken into the mix. I used left-over chicken from a curry made from cubed chicken-breast.

Ingredients:
2 onions – peeled, quartered and cut into thin slices
2 potatoes – peeled, halved and cut into thin slices
2 cups of gram flour
1 cup pieced chicken, chopped into small peices
1 cup sweetcorn kernels (I use a small can)
2 green chilli’s – finely chopped
Handful coriander – finely chopped
1 ½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilli flakes
1 tablespoon cumin
Liberal pinch ajwain seeds
4-6 tablespoons of water to mix
Oil to fry

Method
Mix all ingredients so that you get a thick batter. If you are making this a little advance then onions in the mixture will release water and thin the batter out, so you may want to use less water. If the batter becomes thin, just add a little more gram flour.

Heat oil in a wok on full heat. When hot, lower heat to medium and drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Remove and place onto tissue to soak excess oil. Yummy with tomato ketchup, sweet chilli sauce or mint sauce.

This batter keeps well in the fridge for the next day. If it gets runny, simply add a little more gram flour.