Mixed vegetable bhajias or pakoras using bread

Most families tend to buy a variety of bread whist shopping and find that it either starts to go stale  or gets very dry and hard and it ends up either in the bin or gets fed to the birds.   I am one of those people who hates waste and am always trying to  use up sliced bread to make sandwiches.

I experimented with this recipe a number of years and now is a favourite .  Bread and mixed vegetable bhajias or pakoras recipe works best with leftover bread of any kind.  The seeded bread or baguettes is the best as it gives the bhajias a unique flavour.

 

Ingredients (serves 6):

  • Bread 6 slices of any bread or 3 to 4 rolls .
  • 1 small Onion – grated
  • 1 small potato – grated
  • Small bunch of spinach or fenugreek (methi) finely chopped.
  • 2 or 3 Crushed green chillies (depends on your taste)
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon of Ajwain or ajma seeds (Ajowan caraway, carom seeds)
  • 2 teaspoons of whole coriander seeds
  • 1 cup of chickpea flour (chanaflour)
  • Sunflower oil to fry the bhajias

Method

1.  Cut the bread or bread rolls into manageable size and soak them in water

 

2.  Prepare the vegetables. ( you can use almost any vegetables – I’ve tried this with marrow, apple and even carrots).

 

3.  Transfer  the bread from the water into a colander and remove as much water as possible by gently pressing the bread.

4. Mash the bread by hand in a mixing bowl.

5. Add in the grated onions, potatoes, spinach or fenugreek, chillies and the dry spices such as ajwain, coriander, salt and turmeric.

6. Mix all the ingredients.

7. Add in the chickpea flour – just enough to make a manageable batter.

8. Heat the oil. Drop a tiny amount of batter to it.  If it floats up, the oil is ready

9. Drop spoonfuls of this mixture into the hot oil.

10. Fry on medium heat until the pakoras look golden brown.  The pakoras should be crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.

11. Serve these pakoras with any chutneys or ketchup or a nice cup of Indian Spicy Tea.

12.   These Bread and mixed vegetable bhajias or pakoras can be served as a starter or can also be eaten as a snack.

Here are some more pakoras recipes in the blog you may wish to try out:

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Mina Joshi

I am a busy working mum who aims to make quick and healthy authentic vegetarian and vegan dishes for my family. I am also a face to face and online cookery teacher, recipe developer, restaurant and product reviewer. I share all recipes with step by step instructions.

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