Festival Bright

Recipe: Ribbon Pakoda / Kokkuvada

Isn't it interesting how "darkness" is usually associated with "evil" and "light" with "good"? One of the meanings of the word "darkness" is "the absence of light"....

A small flame is all it takes to dispel darkness...

It is that time of the year again, when the houses are adorned with small clay lamps which are filled with oil and lighted in order to signify the triumph of good over evil. The air is filled with the smoke of bursting fire-crackers and sounds of laughter and mirth fill the streets as the festival of Diwali is celebrated.




Sweets are an important part of any celebration and very much a part this festive season as well. But every-time that I have a lot of sweets, I tend to long for something savoury to break the heady and giddy feeling from an overdose of sugar.



This snack is just perfect for that - crunchy and a little spicy with the comforting notes of cumin and black sesame. It's also very easy to make and pretty much a standard snack in most Indian kitchens. This is how I make it :)





RIBBON PAKODA / KOKKUVADA


Ingredients:


Gram flour (chickpea flour / besan / kadala mav) - 2 cups
Fine rice flour - 1 cup (Use the rice flour for Idiappam and not the one for puttu)
Red Chilli powder - 1 Tbsp (or as per preference)
Ground Cumin - 1/2 Tbsp
Black sesame - 1/2 Tbsp
Water to make a soft dough
Salt to taste
Oil for deep-frying


You will also need a Kitchen press / Chakli press / Murukku press with the base attachment which has 3-4 small thin rectangular slots. Check here or here for pictures.


Mix all the ingredients except the oil and make a dough similar to the chapati dough. Check for salt by tasting a tiny bit of dough.

Heat the oil in a wok or a frying pan. Put a tiny ball of dough in the oil. If it rises back up immediately, then the oil is hot enough.

Press ribbon shaped pakodas into the hot oil. Fry on both sides till done. To check for done-ness, take a tester piece and see if it is cooked properly. They continue to darken a bit even after removing from the oil.

Drain excess oil on paper towels.

Once cool, store in air-tight containers.




Wishing you a Happy and Safe Diwali !

I'm sending this to the events My Diwali My Way and to The Kerala Kitchen (its a favourite snack in Kerala) Both hosted by Khushi of "A Girl's Diary". Click here for the Kerala Kitchen blog to check out the rules and the yummy Kerala delicacies from the previous month's round ups.




This is also going to the event Diwali - Festival Of Lights at Anu's Healthy Kitchen


Comments

Behind the Scenes

All the dishes posted in this blog have been cooked by me. Some of the recipes are mine and some of them adapted / borrowed in which case, the link to the original source is provided.

I am also the photographer and the author behind this blog.

If you would like to borrow any of my recipes or photographs, please do let me know and link back to the original post on this blog.

Popular Posts