The Chilli Pickle's Onion Pakoras

Back in the summer of 2019 we took a train down to Brighton where the dining scene has been growing tremendously over that last several years, and it is down to people like Dawn Sperring and her husband Alun as to why. The Chilli Pickle is Inspired by Dawn & Al’s Indian travels “From the tropics of Tamil Nadu & Kerala, the wetlands of West Bengal, to the Rajasthani desert plains.” Alun is a classicaly trained chef, while Dawn packed in her job working for the London Ambulance Service to take the reins of front of house. Twelve years on they are still going strong and a huge part of the hospitality fabric of Brighton.

We whipped up one of their restaurants most popular dishes on an episode of The Shift Show - Onion Pakora’s.

A fun, vibrant, flavour packed snack - perfect to eat along with your curry or just whip up as a party snack or lunch.

INGREDIENTS

3 red onions halved and fine sliced

6 spring onions, green part only, cut into 2cm sticks

2 Tbsp fresh coriander

FOR THE BATTER

4 tbsp chickpea flour

2 tbsp rice flour

2 tbsp potato flour (if you can't get this make up with more rice flour)

2/3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp madras curry powder

Ice cold water - enough to add to make a smooth batter

1.5 tsp roasted cumin seeds

1.5 tsp roasted coriander seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp dry red lentils

FOR THE CHILLI CHAT

(mix all together and dust over with a sieve)

Madras curry powder

Chilli powder

Amchur powder (optional)

Salt

2 parts Madras powder to 1 part salt and 1 part chilli powder

METHOD

Dry roast your cumin, fennel and coriander seeds until they are fragrant. Leave to cool.

Place seeds in a pestle and mortar with the red lentils and crush to a coarse mix.

For the batter add all the ingredients and mix to create a smooth batter. You want the consistency to be a little runnier than cake batter - enough to help the onions stick together, but runny enough so that it’s not claggy when it comes out the oil.

Mix the red & spring onions in a separate bowl.

Add a handful to the batter to coat the onions (doing small amounts to make sure the onions are loose).

Get your wok or frying pan half full of oil, it should be at about 170C - any hotter and you’ll burn the batter, any less and it won’t cook properly.

Make a small handful and drop into a wok. Depending how you like your pakoras, we left ours in until it was a nice golden brown and then flipped over. Once at your desired crispiness, drain and repeat. 

Sprinkle your chilli chat mix over the pakora. Eat immediately!  Also great served with some mango chutney.