More cooking

We invited friends over for dinner. Jim was here from Norway and was craving some Indian food. I made my usual suspects but I added these Pakoras. Next time I would chop the vegetables smaller.



Pakoras (Fritters
Vij's Indian Cuisine

1lb cauliflower, in 1" florets
10 oz russett potato (1 lrg)
3 1/2 C chickpea flower
2 1/2 C buttermilk
3 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
3 Tbsp ground coriander
3 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp mango powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 Tbsp salt
1 red onion sliced lengthwise
6 C oil for deep frying (I didn't use this much)

** This recipe doesn't call for it but I should have chopped the potato and onion smaller than it calls for. If you make this do that.

Wash cauliflower in a colander and set aside. Allow water to drain from cauliflower for 15 to 20 minutes.

Peel and wash potatoes. Cut each potato in half, and cut each half in thin slices, about 1/8" thick.

In a large bowl, combine chickpea flour, buttermilk, jalapeno peppers, coriander, cumin, mango powder, turmeric and salt, using your hands. Make sure all the small chunks of chickpea flour have dissolved and the spices are well mixed. Add cauliflower, potatoes and onions, and stir well. The vegetables and chickpea batter should stick together.

To make sure you have the right consistency, form a 2" ball of the mixture and gently drop it from an 8" height back into the mixing bowl. The ball should retain its shape for a few seconds. If the batte is too runny, add chickpea flour, 2 Tbsp at a time, until the mixture thickens up. Do not add more than 4 Tbsp in total.

Preheat a large heavy bottomed pot and heat it on high heat for 5 minutes. Drop a very small piece of batter into the oil. If it floats to the top within a few seconds and is readily sizzling, the oil is hot enough. If it sinks to the bottom, the oil isn't yet properly heated.

When the oil is readly, using a slotted spoon, drop 2" balls of the batter (they won't be exactly round) into the hot oil. Drop as many as you can handle at one time, ut make sure they don't touch. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until golden brown. Take pakoras out and drain on paper towels.

Serves 6

Other than that we were trying to get our Xmas tree up and decorated.



Looks good eh? Well the way things have been going for me lately I don't know why I expected that the 11 ft tree that weighed a ton would stay up. 3 times this damn thing ended up like this:



Finally tied it to the wall with a hook. Please don't breathe for another few weeks. I don't want to have to clean it up again.