Mushroom Pakodas

Mushroom what?!!! is the reaction I get when I tell someone about this dish 
Mushrooms in any form is welcome for me. As Soup, as a topping on my pizza, in my rice....
I remember when shakeys was 'the hangout place' in Chennai, my friend Anu and me would find ourselves comfortably perched there, eating their lovely breaded mushroom starters. That was the start of my love story with mushrooms :) 

Ever since, I've tried various dishes with mushrooms and loved them all, cos of course they had mushrooms in them. I've tried mushroom pakodas just twice and they turned out great.
This post is for Anu, who, when I started the blog very sweetly asked me to put up the recipe to the shakey's mushrooms, if I knew it. I don't know how to make those but here's an Indian version of the mushroom starters we loved.
To make these you will need
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 15 minutes
Serves 6 people
Ingredients
9 tbsps gram flour (besan ka aata)
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 handful coriander leaves - chopped
2-3 green chillies chopped
1 packet mushrooms - cleaned and chopped
chat masala to sprinkle on top (optional)
Method

• Add half a cup water to the gram flour, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder and make it a smooth paste.This is your standard pakoda batter made. This batter can be used to make any pakoda of your choice(onion, potato, bread).  Mix well so there are no lumps in the batter. You can add more water if you feel the batter is too thick. The batter has to be of running consistency. 

• Add chopped coriander and green chillies to this batter. I have done this to give the batter some extra flavour. Mix well.

• Add the chopped mushrooms to this and mix so that they are coated with the batter.

• Heat oil in a pan and slowly drop the batter coated mushrooms in the hot oil and fry on medium flame until golden brown. Remove and sprinkle with chat masala. Serve hot with any sauce/chutney of your choice.

Enjoy with a cup of hot tea :) tastes even better on a rainy day ;)

Notes

1.  You can use anything you like instead of mushrooms to make this dish, spinach leaves, onions, potatoes, peppers. Be creative.

Shabnam