When mom and me got chatting yesterday, I mentioned that I have to make a dish for the Indian Cooking Challenge and when I mentioned the name – Patnam Pakoda, her face lit up! She recollected her mom making this pakoda as an after school snack and also on Sundays when there were guests at home and something needed to be served with the evening coffee.
IF you are wondering about the name -‘Patnam pakoda’, patnam means city in Tamil language and in those days, Chennai was called Patnam by the folks who lived else where. So this snack probably originated in Chennai!
And back in those days, if anyone is married off to a person living in patnam or is doing business there / working in patnam or has just visited the place was considered to be prestigious!
Mom went on to say her mom’s recipe which I will be making later,but for now here is the recipe that Padma of Plantain Leaf shared with us. This is her grandmom’s recipe that was learnt from her sister who lived in Chennai.
I used:
Rice flour- 1 cup
Roasted gram flour- 1/4 cup
Besan-2 tablespoons
Ghee-5 tablespoons
Cooking soda- 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Red chili powder- 1 teaspoon
Finely chopped onion-1/4 cup
Finely chopped curry leaves- a few
Finely chopped green chilies-2[I skipped it]
Grated ginger-1/2 teaspoon
Chopped cashews-10
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry
Take ghee in a bowl and add soda and rub, it will froth. Put in the rice flour, besan, roasted gram flour, salt and chili powder.Next put in onion, ginger cashews,cumin seeds,curry leaves and mix well.Add water little by little
Mix to get a dough .Pich off a portion and press with your fingers, it should hold the shape. If its too dry add a few drops of water. Make balls and keep aside.Heat oil for frying. Once the oil is hot gently drop the balls into the hot oil and reduce the flame a bit and deep fry till golden brown.Drain.
Enjoy the crispy Patnam pakida with a cup of coffee / tea….
Note:
- Instead of making balls of the dough , they can be made like regular pakoda too.
- I omitted green chilies as I did not want the kids to bite into them,
- Maintain the oil temperature, if the oil is too hot, it will cook on the outside and remain raw on the inside.
Oh yum. Amazingly so delicious. Love the crispness.
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How interesting to know your Mom also has a version for this!..looking fwd to read that..:)..your pakodas have come out very nice PJ..seeing your tea glass, I now feel I missed using it..lol
PJ it's very nice to know that your mom have a recipe for this please do share with us. You made them so perfectly beautiful pictures…
Very nice.. love the pics..
PErfectly made pakodis PJ. Loved reading about your conversation with your mom about these pakodis. Food sure brings back some really fond memories. Looking forward to your mom's version of these pakodis.
Looks so mouthwatering!
would love to see ur mother's recipe also…these have come out great