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The great thing about being indoors on a wet rainy day is that you can quickly whip up some hot tea and snacks – and then sit by the window or on a balcony, enjoying the wonderful weather. The Monsoon certainly seems to make the tea and snacks taste a lot better!
Today, let’s make another traditional snack that’s just perfect for overcast, rain-washed days – Makki Paneer Pakora. This is a deep-fried delicacy made with Sweet Corn (Makki) and Indian Cottage Cheese (Paneer). And to add a dash of health to this snack, we will be using cold-pressed Mustard Oil as the frying medium.
So let’s start gathering the ingredients that you will require.
Ingredients for Makki Paneer Pakora
Sweet Corn (Makki): 150 grams
Cottage Cheese (Paneer): 100 grams
Onion: 30 grams
Gram Flour (Besan): 30 grams
Mustard Oil: 100 millilitres
Curry Leaves: 10
Coriander (Dhania) Leaves: 30 grams
Ginger (Adrak): One half-inch piece
Fennel (Saunf) Seeds: 1 teaspoon
Green Chillies: 2
Salt: To taste
The quantities mentioned above are for two servings. Adjust the ingredients proportionately to suit the number of servings you require.
Preparation Makki Paneer Pakora
Grate the cottage cheese.
Finely chop the onion.
Finely chop the curry leaves.
Finely chop the coriander leaves.
Coarsely chop the green chillies.
Coarsely chop the ginger.
Method for Makki Paneer Pakora
In a food processor, take the green chillies, ginger and fennel seeds. Grind then into a coarse dry paste.
Next, add the sweet corn to the food processor and dry-grind.
Transfer the contents of the food processor to a mixing bowl. Add the cottage cheese, onion, curry leaves, coriander leaves, gram flour and salt. Mix well.
Add a little water to the mixing bowl – not too much, just enough to make a thick batter. Divide the batter into equal portions. Keep aside.
Heat the Mustard Oil in a pan on a Medium flame till the oil reaches its smoking point and emits whiffs of aromatic white smoke. Then reduce the flame to Low. Deep-fry the portions of batter that you had kept aside. Fry evenly till the batter turns golden-brown in colour.
Deep-fry the batter in batches to ensure your Pakoras don’t get burnt. You can place the deep-fried Pakoras on paper towels to drain the excess oil if you wish. It isn’t necessary because we have used healthy cold-pressed Mustard Oil for deep-frying. Moreover, Mustard Oil is proven to be absorbed into your food in very small quantities while frying. The choice is yours – it depends on whether you like your fried food to be dry or a bit oily.
Your traditional Makki Paneer Pakora is now ready. Serve them hot with tomato ketchup or chutney. Enjoy them with a steaming hot cup of tea as you stare at the rain-drenched city outside your window. So relaxing!
You can find more recipes at : https://www.purioilmills.com/recipes-in-english/