It has been raining here in San Diego last couple of days and i am finding it really tough to resist my temptations for a pipping hot plate of one of the delhi chaats. Last evening, my dining window had one of the most beautiful sunsets ever and i felt it was unfair to the weather to not celebrate it with some of my favorite comfort food. It had to be pakoras and it had to be special. This recipe came around in desperation to make something fun and the result is A.W.E.S.O.M.E !!
I have been trying to avoid oily food for a few weeks now and my plan was all going good. It was summerish and hot weather here in San Diego and that made it easier to eat light, avoid calories and feel happy. But a couple of days back, the weather took a spin here and it is cloudy, cold and raining. When that happens, my body goes in a “comfort seeking” mode and all i can think of is a big plate of comfort food and me, hidden in the comforts of my blanket, enjoying a movie… sounds good right !
Yesterday evening i was talking to a bunch of my Indian blogger friends who were also experiencing similar weather and we were discussing food. Well that is not really something new (given our shared craze and passion for good food). We are all in different parts of US and were craving the Delhi street food. I had no plans set for the evening meal and i was just thinking about my options when they all started tempting me with the idea of making pakoras.
I wanted to make a different sort of pakoras. Searched my pantry and fished out a big block of tofu, so decided to go ahead with it. When it comes to paneer/tofu pakoras, i always feel that they taste bland inside. So, i decided to marinate Tofu. Tofu works well with marination and soaks up all the marinate goodness 🙂
Lemon Marinated Tofu Pakoras
Lemon Marinated Tofu Pakoras
- 100 gms Tofu – Firm/Extra firm – cut into cubes/sticks (as per your choice)
- Oil for shallow frying
Marination
- Juice of 1 big lemon or 2 small lemons
- 1 tablespoon water
- Salt as per taste
- Red chili powder as per taste
- Black pepper as per taste
- 1 tsp chaat masala (optional)
Batter
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- 1/4 cup water or as per desired consistency of the batter
- salt to taste
- red chili powder to taste
- 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp dry mango powder/ 1/2 tsp fresh raw mango, grated
Method
- Begin with marinating the tofu slices. Try to squeeze out all the water from the tofu slices before marination
- In a bowl, add in all the ingredients of marination and mix well. To this, add in the tofu slices and mix well so that the marination is coated well on both the sides. Let this rest for 15 minutes. Switch the sides of the tofu in between so that tofu is marinated from all sides.
- Now, in a separate bowl, prepare the batter with the ingredients mentioned above. For this recipe, i chose to make a thick coating batter so that it is easier to coat the tofu slices evenly.
- Shallow fry the batter coated tofu slices in oil till golden brown.
- Serve hot.
This recipe came together so quickly and tasted really great. I served these with my home made Sichuan sauce and it was just a perfect combination. The marination was nicely absorbed by the Tofu slices and the zesty lemon pepper combination made these pakoras so darn good. If you have not tried this recipe, you are definitely missing something extremely special !! Make them right away !!
Taking these piping hot pakoras to Fiesta Friday
If these Pakoras are tempting you, try these other Indian street food treats
Sounds yum Prachi. And I totally understand what you are saying – rains, chats and pakoras… Diet goes for a toss. :).
Yeah ! Any Indian would totally understand this post 🙂
YUM! sounds like just the kind of thing I would LOVE.
This just make my mouth water..I m truly book marking your recipe.
Oh thank u so much !!<3
Ooh, these look really good. The name itself sounds appealing. Yum!
Hi there, I have nominated you for the Real Neat Blog Awards.. Please check my post for details.. to you appreciate it.. Thanks
Hope u* appreciate it.. Typo error sorry
Love your idea of using tofu in your pakoras, and all the flavours! Sounds delicious Prachi! Thank you for sharing this recipe! 🙂
These sounds so tasty! Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday. See you again this week. 😉
Thank u Jhuls !! <3
What a great idea! I’ve never had tofu pakoras. Thanks for sharing with FF#65
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Hi Prachi..I am shannu from Food Passion and Love 🙂 I tried your Tofu pakoras and they were simply delicious.I have posted it today in my blog.Do visit my blog!
Cheers!
Hi Shannu,
Just saw ur post about my Lemon Marinated Tofu pakoras ! I am happy to know that u tried it out and liked it !! 🙂
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