♪♫ ♪♫ Onions, onions la, la, la. Onions, onions, ha, ha, ha.....But mmmmm, I love onions. ♪♫ ♪♫
Remember that strange, but way fun, old song? Damn catchy little ditty. The perfect sing song accompaniment when you're making onion pakoras. These golden crispy, aromatic little tasties are one of the more recent cravings added to the must-make-more-often list at our house. Once you try them, you'll see what I mean.
Onions rings, move over! In fact, hmmmm.......you poor dears, alas, shoo, shoo. Pakoras have arrived and they're here to stay.
A few months back, in those cold, dark winter months, whilst scooting about online one afternoon, onion pakoras popped out of the screen and hit me right in the kisser. Lucky me! I was browsing and perusing the food blog, Seven Spoons and there they were in all their simplistic, yummy glory.
They sounded so good to me, that I would have made them right then and there, but I had to wait a day or two to do a grocery run for chickpea flour. Something that never used to be a staple in my pantry, but is now. If you're like me and think, 'well I'll just substitute flour or rice flour, or flour and cornstarch for the batter', then think again. Do yourself a favour and go get a bag of chickpea flour from the Asian cooking section of your grocery store. And make some onion pakoras.
They're sooooo easy to make! All you need are some nice sweet onions, like Vidalia, Walla Walla or Maui, that chickpea flour and a pinch or three of sea salt. That's it. Wow, eh?! Of course you can always go on a pakora taste adventure from time to time and throw in some chopped fresh cilantro and eensy bits of minced fresh jalapeno. Great options!
No matter if you choose the extras or remain a purist, the results will tickle your tastebuds, make that mouthfeel gauge thingie you have and anyone you serve these babies to happy, happy.
I usually mix a bit of ketchup, mayonnaise, horseradish and a splash of dark soy sauce together for a dip. Everyone loves it and can't figure out what the heck it is. These onion crispies are also yummy with a shot of soy sauce or fresh squeezed lime. Have your way with them, you can't go wrong.
Before you know it, you'll have chickpea flour in your pantry and be singing and humming........ Onions, onions la, la la....
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Here we go............. Cut onions into very thin rings. The fantastic thing about pakoras is that the different thicknesses and off-kilter slices (that we always end up with) just add to the delicious texture of the finished pakora.
Mix, mix, chickpea flour with salt and water until about the same consistency as cream before it's whipped.
Heat oil in wok, pot or fryer and plop little tangled clumps of battered onions carefully into the hot oil. Fry, flip and fry. As Seven Spoons says, 'the messier your clump of onions, the more texture there will be in the finished fritter.' Amen!
Fry about 1 minute per side 'til crispy golden, then remove to drain on newspaper or paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt while hot.
Serve hot with dip, soy sauce or fresh squeezed lime.
ONION PAKORAS
2 large sweet onions - Vidalia, Walla Walla, Maui, sliced into super duper thin rings
About 1/2 - 3/4 cup chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon sea, Kosher or your favorite salt
Water
Oil for frying
Salt for sprinkling
Dip - you pick - ketchup, chili sauce, blue cheese dressing, ranch dressing, soy sauce, fresh squeezed lime
Plop sliced onion rings into medium bowl. In another small bowl mix together chickpea flour and salt. Gradually whisk in enough cold water until mixture is the consistency of unwhipped cream. Whisk with pizzazz so you get a little froth happening.
In wok, heavy-bottom pot or fryer heat oil to about 350F. Mix the batter into the onion rings, stirring gently until evenly coated. Using a fork or your fingers pick up a small clump of onion rings and let the excess batter drip off.
Carefully drop the tangle of onions into the hot oil and fry about one minute, until golden on the one side. Flip and fry until crispy golden on the other side. Remove from oil to drain on newspapers or paper towels. Sprinkle with sea salt right away. Repeat, frying a few at a time until they're gone, baby, gone.
Serve immediately with your dip or condiment of choice. Your guests will be mmmm-ing from the very first bite!