Pakoda

Pakora/pakoda is a crispy snack made of chana dal. Typically, ready made flour (gram flour) is used to make them. My mother grinds soaked chana dal into a semi-coarse batter to get that crispiness.

2 cups chana dal
1 onion
1 whole garlic bulb
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2-1 tsp ajwain seeds (dry roasted and ground)
2 tsp chili powder/chili flakes
Salt to taste
Curry leaves
Water
Oil for frying

Soak the chana dal for 3-4 hours. Chop the onions, curry leaves and garlic finely. You could also grind the onion and garlic, which is what I did. Grind the chana dal semi-coarsely, add some water if needed. Add the onion, curry leaves and garlic to the grinded dal and mix. Add fennel seeds, chili powder, salt and ajwain seeds that have been dry-roasted and ground finely, to the mixture. The ajwain seeds are added for fragrance, you could exclude them if you want to or don't have them. Heat oil for deep frying. Take a handful of the pakora mixture and drop it carefully in the hot oil in small quantities with your hands. Fry them on both sides. After making the first batch, taste and adjust salt and spice, accordingly. Pakodas are best when eaten on the very first day, when they are still crispy.