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Gluten Free Vegan Oven Baked Pakora

Pakoras in Indian cooking are usually pieces of vegetable or meat, coated in a spiced batter and deep-fried.  In my recipe, I have successfully baked them and added no oil. They were crispy, light and were loved by my family.

This is a great way to disguise a lot of vegetables into a dish for fussy eaters and to cook one dish that can be enjoyed by vegans and meat lovers alike. With the chunky vegetables encased in the fluffy batter, you can’t really tell what vegetable is in each mouthful. This is handy for fussy eaters. A great way to use what you have leftover in the vegetable drawer.

I’ve used chickpea flour which major supermarkets stock in their Indian section. The flour can goes by many names: gram flour, farina di cici, garbanzo flour or besan flour. The advantage of chickpea flour is that it is gluten-free and the resulting mixture is crispier.  If you do not have chickpea flour, use plain flour the batter may be wetter so add a little more flour if need.

I served poppadums, chutneys and a vegan coconut yoghurt raita as the starter and the pakora and any curry sauce as the main course. It made for healthy, immune-boosting and fun mid-week dinner.

The recipe can easily be halved, although if you do make the full recipe you will have pakora for lunch, they reheated well and were tasty cold if you are lunching on the run.

Gluten Freen Vegan Oven-Baked Pakora
 
Preparation time
Cooking time
Total time
 
A healthy take on an Indian starter classic served as a hearty, healthy, gluten-free vegan main course, that non-vegans will love too. A great way to get an array of vegetables into any fussy eaters.
Marissa:
Recipe type: Mains
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 28
Ingredients
  • 3 small onions
  • 3 small carrots
  • ½ punnet chestnut mushrooms
  • 1 cauliflower, cut into small florets and the stalk and unblemished outer leaves finely chopped
  • ½ packet of tender stem broccoli or ¼ head of broccoli
  • 1 Tablespoon freshly chopped ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon crushed garlic, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon chilli, or to taste
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Pakora Batter
  • 1½ cups chickpea or “gram” flour, (found in large supermarkets in the Indian section or in health food stores)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon coriander
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • +- ½ - 1 cup water
  • plus a couple of tablespoons extra of flour
  • To Serve
  • Serve with a curry sauce, raitaor chutney
Method
  1. Fry the onions until translucent.
  2. Add the mushroom and fry for a couple of minutes until they soften.
  3. Stir in the ginger and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.
  4. Add the cauliflower, broccoli and remaining spices and allow the mixture to simmer with a lid on until the ingredients have softened but are still crunchy, this takes about 10 minutes depending on the size and variety of vegetables used.
  5. Set the vegetables aside to cool for about 20 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C
  7. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
  8. Pakora Batter
  9. Mix the dry ingredients together.
  10. Add a little water at a time and stir using a whisk until a thick batter is reached.
  11. Add the vegetable to the batter and stir the mixture until all the vegetables are coated.
  12. Add a little extra flour to make a firmer dough if needed, the batter should be dropping consistency.
  13. Using an ice-cream scoop add dollops of the batter onto a tray.
  14. Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the size or until crispy and brown.
  15. Serve with a curry sauce, raita or chutney
Tips
This recipe can easily be halved.
Use leftover roasted vegetables, just chop and add to the batter, for a delicious meal.
Leftover pakora reheat well in a 180-degree oven.
Delicious eaten cold in a packed lunch.
Enjoy this fun healthy meal.

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