STUFFED BABY PEPPER PAKORAS

Stuffed baby pepper pakoras image

Use sweet peppers to make these flavourful pakoras. They're traditionally made for the Indian festival, Holi, stuffed with spiced potatoes

Provided by Roopa Gulati

Time 50m

Yield 4 as a snack

Number Of Ingredients 13

Ingredients

300g potatoes, Maris Piper or King Edwards, peeled and quartered
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp dried mango powder (amchoor)
1 tsp ground coriander
1 green chilli, chopped, with the seeds left in
¼ tsp coarsely ground black peppercorns
250g baby sweet peppers
150g gram flour
1 tsp fine salt
¾ tsp ground cumin
sunflower oil, for deep-frying
coriander relish, to serve

Steps:

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15 mins, or until tender, then drain in a colander, tip back into the pan and coarsely crush with a fork.
Heat a small heavy-bottomed frying pan and toast the fennel seeds for about 30 seconds, stirring all the time, until they release their aroma. Use a pestle and mortar to grind the seeds to a powder.
Stir the ground fennel seeds, chilli powder, mango powder, ground coriander, green chilli and peppercorns into the crushed potatoes.
Cut the peppers in half lengthways and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Fill each cavity with some of the spiced potato mixture and set aside.
Sieve the gram flour and salt into a bowl and stir in just enough cold water to make a smooth batter - aim for the consistency of double cream.
Heat the oil in a wok or karahi to 180°C, or test the temperature by dropping in a cube of bread - when it browns in 30 seconds, it's ready. Dip the filled pepper halves in the batter, then deep-fry in batches for 3-5 mins until golden. Drain the pakoras on kitchen paper, sprinkle with salt, and serve straightaway with coriander relish.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 309 calories, Fat 13 grams fat, SaturatedFat 2 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 35 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 4 grams sugar, Fiber 7 grams fiber, Protein 11 grams protein, Sodium 1.33 milligram of sodium