In India, a debate is going on and on : what is Indian and what is not Indian. The nationalist zealots are against Trouser, Shirt, Skirt, Top as these are not Indian. But the same zealots are happy to eat Potato, Tomato, Papaya, Biryani or Parantha as they are totally ignorant that potato and papaya were brought by Portuguese, tomato was accidentally discovered by a French Pastor in 16th century in France, Parantha and Biryani traveled from Turkey and came to India with Mughals. So when things are so confusing about the origin, then probing a snack which is truly Indian seems to me as a challenge. But Pakoda definitely boasts to be a Pan India snack with desi origin because with small variation it is available in all part of country. Of course, it has different names in different regions - Pakoda, Bhaja, Bhajia, Bonda , Vada. And it is accepted as snack of riches, middle class as well as poors breaking the class barrier. During
Real taste of Pakoda come with Dhania Chutney (made with fresh Coriander leaves) in combo with piping hot tea is simply a heavenly combination.The taste further enhanced during the Mansoon season.
During rains eating hot Pakoda with chai is a common site in villages and Kasbas. Kailash Parbat, which is a well known restaruant chain in Bombay, runs a sub brand Chai Pakoda in Mansoon Season and is appreciated for this little innovation.
Pakoda is a vast term, under its umbrella lot of variations and varieties are available. How to make Pakoda - slice or chop a vegetable which may vary from Potato, Baignan (brinjal), Palak, Onion, Mirchi, Paneer, Cabbage, in many cases slicing or chopping is not needed at all, mixing it in a besan (gram flour ) batter, add pinch of salt and masalas, deep fry it in Kadhai, the out come is pakoda or you call it bhaja, bhajia or bhajji.
Though the origin of bajjia or pakoda is definitely vegetarian but in last 50-60 years fish, chicken and all other kind of non vegetarian elements have been added, but still majority of pakoda stuff is vegetarian.
As far as batata vada or bonda is concerned, the process involves boiling, peeling and meshing the potato, you may say these are minor refinements of the original recipe.
Now, why we insists to crown it pan India snack title and why we do not favor its nearest rival Samosa to award this crown, its nearest rival. The first thing is most of the families still love and prefer to prepare bhajia at home and on the contrary most of the time Samosa is brought from outside. But having said that, the best bhajia is available at most of the roadside dhabas. If you travel from Amritsar to Calcutta on NH24 you will find plenty of unique flavor of Bhajia . I had an occasion to enjoy the best ever bhajiya at Thakur Saheb ka Dhaba at a place called Vikramjyot on this highway between Faizabad and Basti. Here all ingredients are in-house, owners have extensive farm just adjoining to the dhaba, where they grow vegetables, chana, paneer organically, the medium of frying is Kachi dhani ka Tel (freshly pressed virgin Mustard Oil) pressed locally.
The Religious Zealots can feel proud of reading my next few lines. People may not be aware about the biggest export from India in sixteen century was Pakoda. It was the time when Spanish and Portuguese ships would stop on Indian Ports on way to Japan. They would sometime pick up cooks from Indian shores and experiment with Indian dishes. These cooks taught the Europeans how to love vegetables and bhajiya. And when the ships got to Japanese ports, some of these cooks got off and stayed on. This was beginning of Tempura a very close Japanese cousin of Pakora ! This fact has been mentioned in Encyclopedia Britannica. In fact there is no trace of tempura on Japanese soil before arrival of Portuguese traders in 16th century. Otherwise also Tempura is an anomoly to japanese cuisines, while Japanese cook everything in shallow frying, Tempura is the only exception which is deep fried.
In fact we Indians have imbibe Pakora culture with Chinese dishes also, go to a Chinese Food Joint (not the Top end one), you will find all so called Chinese starters deep fried like our own Pakora !
The biggest advancement in the Pakora family has taken place in the recent year is large recognition of Vada Pav outside Maharashtra. It is Marathi hamburger and really caught attention in Bombay in the last quarter of 20th century. It has traveled far and wide, I remember 4 years back, I saw vada pav on a menu card in Seattle USA fast food joint in the down town area and pretty sure that food joints in many other cities across the globe are also offering vada pav.
Real taste of Pakoda come with Dhania Chutney (made with fresh Coriander leaves) in combo with piping hot tea is simply a heavenly combination.The taste further enhanced during the Mansoon season.
During rains eating hot Pakoda with chai is a common site in villages and Kasbas. Kailash Parbat, which is a well known restaruant chain in Bombay, runs a sub brand Chai Pakoda in Mansoon Season and is appreciated for this little innovation.
Pakoda is a vast term, under its umbrella lot of variations and varieties are available. How to make Pakoda - slice or chop a vegetable which may vary from Potato, Baignan (brinjal), Palak, Onion, Mirchi, Paneer, Cabbage, in many cases slicing or chopping is not needed at all, mixing it in a besan (gram flour ) batter, add pinch of salt and masalas, deep fry it in Kadhai, the out come is pakoda or you call it bhaja, bhajia or bhajji.
Though the origin of bajjia or pakoda is definitely vegetarian but in last 50-60 years fish, chicken and all other kind of non vegetarian elements have been added, but still majority of pakoda stuff is vegetarian.
As far as batata vada or bonda is concerned, the process involves boiling, peeling and meshing the potato, you may say these are minor refinements of the original recipe.
Now, why we insists to crown it pan India snack title and why we do not favor its nearest rival Samosa to award this crown, its nearest rival. The first thing is most of the families still love and prefer to prepare bhajia at home and on the contrary most of the time Samosa is brought from outside. But having said that, the best bhajia is available at most of the roadside dhabas. If you travel from Amritsar to Calcutta on NH24 you will find plenty of unique flavor of Bhajia . I had an occasion to enjoy the best ever bhajiya at Thakur Saheb ka Dhaba at a place called Vikramjyot on this highway between Faizabad and Basti. Here all ingredients are in-house, owners have extensive farm just adjoining to the dhaba, where they grow vegetables, chana, paneer organically, the medium of frying is Kachi dhani ka Tel (freshly pressed virgin Mustard Oil) pressed locally.
The Religious Zealots can feel proud of reading my next few lines. People may not be aware about the biggest export from India in sixteen century was Pakoda. It was the time when Spanish and Portuguese ships would stop on Indian Ports on way to Japan. They would sometime pick up cooks from Indian shores and experiment with Indian dishes. These cooks taught the Europeans how to love vegetables and bhajiya. And when the ships got to Japanese ports, some of these cooks got off and stayed on. This was beginning of Tempura a very close Japanese cousin of Pakora ! This fact has been mentioned in Encyclopedia Britannica. In fact there is no trace of tempura on Japanese soil before arrival of Portuguese traders in 16th century. Otherwise also Tempura is an anomoly to japanese cuisines, while Japanese cook everything in shallow frying, Tempura is the only exception which is deep fried.
In fact we Indians have imbibe Pakora culture with Chinese dishes also, go to a Chinese Food Joint (not the Top end one), you will find all so called Chinese starters deep fried like our own Pakora !
The biggest advancement in the Pakora family has taken place in the recent year is large recognition of Vada Pav outside Maharashtra. It is Marathi hamburger and really caught attention in Bombay in the last quarter of 20th century. It has traveled far and wide, I remember 4 years back, I saw vada pav on a menu card in Seattle USA fast food joint in the down town area and pretty sure that food joints in many other cities across the globe are also offering vada pav.
.jpg "A Gumnam Actress Strips Nude to Protest Auto/taxi Fare Hike")
