Cocktails and Cuisine

By Pervaiz Shallwani

Indian Snacks: In Time for the Fall Season

This is a great time of year to wander the grocery store aisles and the farmers markets, but it also is a bountiful time of year if you want what American soil has to offer: corn, apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes and beets. The fall season is the end of the growing season, so enjoy the harvest while it lasts. After the next couple of months, the fruits and vegetables available at the grocery store are going to be imported.

So why not impress your next party guests with a seasonal twist on a couple of South Asian classics: chaat, pakoras and mini pooris.

Autumn Pakoras (South Asian fritters)

This is a colorful way to show off the fall harvest—red beets, bright orange sweet potatoes, yellow corn, potato and green beans.

Ingredients:
1½ cups gram (chickpea) flour, sifted (found in South Asian and gourmet grocery stores)
4 cups ounces water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups sunflower oil
2 large potatoes, pealed and cut into 1/8-inch slices
2 red beets, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch slices
1 pound green beans ends removed
Sea salt or kosher salt to garnish

Instructions:
1. Whisk the water slowly into the flour, taking care to beat out any lumps.

2. Whisk in the spices and salt and whip until smooth. Set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

3. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.

4. Dip vegetables in the batter making sure to coat thoroughly.

5. Drop one batter-covered vegetable in the oil, letting it cook until crisp. Cook each vegetable separately because time varies for each type.

6. Remove vegetables and place on paper towels to soak up the grease and season with kosher or sea salt while they are still hot.

7. Once all the vegetables are done, toss and serve immediately with your favorite dipping sauce. In keeping with Desi tradition, it’s only fitting for the dip to have a little kick.

If you want to take it up another notch, make a few pakoras with corn. Boil or roast the ear and cut the corn off the cob. Mix the kernels with some of the batter and gently drop spoon-sized potions into the hot oil.

Pakora batter recipe adapted from toomanychefs.com.

Potato-Apple Chaat (Hot-sour spice mix)
Makes 6 servings

Adding apple to chaat only aids in the complexity of this spicy, sweet, tart and crunchy dish. FYI, chaat is always a crowd-pleaser at a party and serving it on mini poori rounds will make a great hors d’oeuvre.

Ingredients:
2 Russet potatoes, peeled and diced into ¼ inch pieces
2 red apples, peeled and diced
Juice of one lemon
1 jalapeno, finely diced (leave veins and seeds if you want more fire to your chaat)
1 sweet onion, finely diced
2 tablespoons chaat masala (available at South Asian grocery stores)
2 tablespoons mint chutney
2 tablespoons tamarind chutney
1 bunch cilantro, stems removed, washed and finely chopped. Save a few stems to garnish.
1 can of chickpeas (optional)
Bhel (crisps) for garnish or mini pooris (recipe below). Both are also available at South Asian grocery stores.
Salt and Pepper

Instructions:
1. Cook the diced potatoes in boiling water until soft, but not falling apart. Drain and lay out on a flat tray to cool.

2. Once the potatoes are cool, combine with apples, jalapeno, onions, chickpeas and lemon juice.

3. Mix in chaat masala, salt and pepper. Make sure to coat well.

4. Add cilantro a little at a time and mix well until the desired amount of flavor is reached.

5. Add the two chutneys and mix well.

6. Adjust seasoning as desired.

7. Garnish with bhel or serve on top of mini pooris just before serving and garnish with cilantro leaves.

Mini Pooris (Fried flatbread)

Ingredients
1/2 cup plain white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
Oil for deep-frying

Instructions
1. Mix all the ingredients together and kneed dough until it is firm but elastic (like pizza dough).

2. Bread the dough into useable chunks.

3. Flour your surface and roll the dough into a circle like a chapatti (Indian bread), about 1/8 inch thick.

4. Using a small 1 to 2 inch round pastry cutter or a tiny jar lid, cut circles for the pooris.

5. Bring the oil to about 340-350 degrees and after 3-4 minutes, test one of the pooris. If it burns before cooking, the oil is two hot. If they don’t sizzle on impact, it is too cold.

Poori recipe adapted from cookingindex.com.

Pervaiz Shallwani just finished the one-year professional cooking program at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. He currently is a freelance food writer in New York, and gets away from the rigors of writing to tend to artisanal cheeses two days a week in the caves of a New York City cheese shop.

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