Shabbo Khala’s cauliflower pakoras

Name: Shabbo Khala’s cauliflower pakoras (With spiced moong daal batter)
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 1 tsp salt; 1 tsp cumin seeds; ½ tsp ground turmeric; ½ tsp ground coriander; ½ tsp chaat masala; 1 tbsp chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves; 150–200 ml/5–7 fl oz/⅔-scant 1 cup vegetable oil; ½ cauliflower, cut into florets then florets sliced thinly vertically; ½ tsp red chilli powder; 2 tbsp water; 150 g/5 oz/1½ cups moong daal

With spiced moong daal batter

Preparation info

Serves
6–8

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
35 min

Appears in

Summers Under the Tamarind Tree

By Sumayya Usmani

Published 2016

About

In Pakistan, a mother’s closest friends are like maternal aunts and are called ‘Khala’. Every Khala has her secret recipes – this one is my Shabbo Khala’s. As a child I would excitedly anticipate meals at her house, hoping to get some of these thinly sliced cauliflower florets in spicy lentil batter.

Ingredients

150 g/5 oz/1½ cups moong daal
2

Asia
Pakistan
Snack
Summer
Spicy
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

To make the batter, soak the lentils in a bowl of water for at least 3 hours, or overnight, then drain and put them into a food processor or blender. Blend with the measured water until it is a smooth thick batter. Stir in all the spices, salt and chopped coriander.

Heat the oil in a wok-style pan over a medium heat. When the oil is smoking hot, reduce the heat to low.

Dip the s