Palli Pakodi / Peanut Pakodas

I exercise caution when dealing with fried foods. Not during preparation but during consumption. :)

Like any normal human on earth, I do enjoy devouring them but the guilt and the increase in the girth that comes along keeps me away from them. I believe in prevention is better than cure when it comes to guilt laden food and the consequences attached.
I am a lazy bum and have no inclination towards exercise regimen. Ditto wth the husband and he blames it on the time factor. Our treadmill and elliptical in the basement are laden with at least an inch of dust. Sigh. Our bodies in 20s seem to be a lot different than when we are in our 30's. Any fat - sugar we consume seems to like to settle in the mid sections, a factor that I completely detest. :) That's why the aversion but still I went ahead with fried fritters theme for  this week's BM thereby shocking myself.

The people around me keep reminding that my weight is perfectly normal considering my age and height but I know it doesn't take longer to go downhill if I don't watch what am I putting into my body. The kiddo who is home now for summer holidays have been watching my eating patterns and was commenting that I was acting like an obsessive anorexic while all I was doing was eating balanced meals and only as much as my body needed. He doesn't know what his mom looked like before he was born, 25 pounds thinner. It is another thing that I was extremely thin then and addition of pounds happened for a good reason. :)

While I was contemplating whether I need to mail Valli for a change in BM theme, my husband was all smiles since most of his favorite foods start with a prefix "fried". He was giving me the list of fried items he would like to have. Unfortunately he is away on work this week and so, didn't get to eat any of these but the kids are enjoying. And I got to try a couple of recipes I have been intending to do for so long. Thanks to BM, mission accomplished. :)

Today's recipe is peanut pakodis that are a perfect companion for your evening tea. These crispy, hard to resist pakodis are like little clusters of masala peanuts. They are so addictive that I had a hard time stopping myself after tasting a couple. The original recipe had double the quantity of peanuts. It also included ginger -garlic paste that I omitted. If you have any left overs, just store them in airtight container and leave it on the counter for snacking later on. They stay good for few days.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chickpea flour / besan

2 Tbsp rice flour

1/2 cup peanuts

Salt & chili powder to taste

Oil to fry

Method:

* Heat oil in a frying pan.

* Mix the flours, salt, chili powder and peanuts in a bowl. Sprinkle just enough water to bring everything together. The batter should be as stiff as possible and so don't pour water at once. Go on adding little by little.

* Drop a pea sized batter into the hot oil to see if it is ready for frying. If it sizzles and comes to surface then the oil is ready for frying.

* Use your fingers to drop the batter in small portions into the oil. Fit as many as the frying pan can hold. Turn down the heat to low setting (or somewhere between low and medium setting) and fry them until golden brown, flipping in between to ensure that they are cooked through.

* Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towels.

Check what the other marathoners are cooking during BM#17.

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