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Rice Pakora
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This recipe for using leftover cooked rice comes from Milk Street Facebook Community member Pragya Chandra of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She combines the rice with aromatics, chickpea flour and a little water, then deep-fries the batter into lacy-surfaced fritters called pakora. If you’re hesitant to deep-fry, an alternative is to reduce the amount of chickpea flour to ⅔ cup, then pan-fry the batter by filling a large cast-iron skillet with about ½ inch of oil, heat over medium-high until shimmering and drop in ¼-cup portions; each will form a patty about 3 inches in diameter that requires 1½ to 2 minutes per side to brown and cook through. Chandra recommends serving the pakora with cilantro chutney and spicy ketchup. (To make a quick and easy curry-spiced ketchup, stir together ½ cup ketchup, 1 tablespoon curry powder, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, 5 teaspoons lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.)
15
Pakoras
Don’t overcrowd the saucepan when frying the pakora or the temperature of the oil will drop dramatically, resulting in greasy fritters. There should be enough room so the pakora float freely. Also, be sure to allow the oil to return to 350°F before frying another batch.
40 minutes
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2
cups cold cooked long-grain white rice, preferably basmati
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1
medium red onion, finely chopped
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⅓
cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
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2
tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
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2
serrano or Fresno chilies, stemmed, seeded and minced
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¾
cup plus 2 tablespoons chickpea flour (118 grams)
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Kosher salt and ground black pepper
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1
quart neutral oil, for frying
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Cilantro chutney and/or curry-spiced ketchup (see headnote), to serve
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01In a medium bowl, stir together the rice, onion, cilantro, ginger, chilies, chickpea flour, 1¼ teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon pepper, breaking up any clumps of rice. Stir in ⅔ cup water, then let stand for about 10 minutes.
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02In a large saucepan, pour oil to a depth of 2 inches and heat over medium to 350°F. Drop about six 2-tablespoon portions of batter into the oil. Cook, turning occasionally, until the pakora are golden brown all over, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and sprinkle with salt.
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03Fry the remaining batter in the same way, allowing the oil to return to 350°F before each batch; sprinkle the pakora with salt immediately after frying. Serve with cilantro chutney and/or spicy ketchup.
The rice pakoras came out perfect! As an allergy parent, I was excited to be able to find a recipe without eggs and wheat. It was a hit with my kiddo.