Onion and Kale Fritters – Mixed Up Piyanjee
I recently ended up as a part of a conversation somewhere in the facebook world on authenticity and after sort of supporting both sides of the arguement I am not really sure where I ended. Well, I am a Libra, I know when I was growing up following one’s zodiac was serious business. I will date myself even further and tell you that a popular book amongs me and the friendship clan was Linda Goodman’s Zodiac Signs, which it turns out was the first astrology book to make the New York Times Bestseller list, illustrating the fact that I had company in my silly reading. In case you are wondering, a the Libran symbol are the scales and they are supposed to always work towards balancing things. And whenever my equilibrium shifts a little I make some variation of onion fritters also called piyanjee in Bengali.
Well, while the bit on equilibrium is not entirely true, we do love these onion ring fritters in my house. My husband of course calls them pakoras. Actually, these classic naturally gluten-free and vegan-fritters are called different thing in different parts of India, but all tend to have the same lovely crisp and savory sweetness of red onions cloaked in nutritious and crispy chickpea batter.
In fact, the line in our household is, you say pakora, I say piyanjee, lets call the whole thing off. Well, the interesting thing about these fritters is that they can take a whole assortment of variations, depending on the nuances of spices used. I have used some thyme from are garden in lieu of carom seeds to make this particular version. It is available in bounty and adds a nice and simple touch of freshness. I also added some curry leaves and tender kale leaves on a touch of whimsy. The kale was in lieu of spinach which is something that I normally add.
The only caution that I offer is to ensure that you are working with medium hot oil, ensure that the batter is not too thick, there should not be too much batter over the onions, as it will overpower the sweet crispiness of the onions.
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Onion and Kale Fritters – Mixed Up Piyanjee
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: about 20 fritters
An variation of classic Indian onion fritters with kale, onions, thyme and curry leaves. Perfect with a cup of tea!
Ingredients
2 medium sized red onions, halved and thinly sliced1/2 cup chopped baby kale leaves or spinach
For the batter
1 cup of besan or chickpea flour
15 curry leaves
11/2 tablespoons thyme or 1/4 teaspoon carom seeds
3/4 teaspoon red cayenne powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
Oil for frying
Instructions
Separate the pieces and layers of the onions and set aside with the kale or spinach.In a large bowl, whisk the besan, thyme, red cayenne powder, salt, turmeric and cilantro.
Stir in about 1 cup of cold water, this should be done gradually to ensure a batter that is slightly thinner than pancake batter, but thick enough to coat.
Stir in the onions and spinach.
In a heavy bottom skillet add about 1 and 1/2 cups of canolla oil, about 11/2 inches deep. Heat the oil until a crumb when tested dances up to the surface.
Add about 2 tablespoons of the batter, gently allowing the onions to fan out in strands.
Fry on medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, this should NOT be done on high heat.
Turn and fry again, the color of the fritters should be a comfortable golden brown color.
Remove from the fire, drain on paper towels and serve.Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin2.2http://cookinginwestchester.com/2013/04/onion-and-kale-fritters-mixed-up-piyanjee.html
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