Echota's Baked Pakora Three Ways (Recipe)

 
(This recipe is has a fat-free option, is oil-free, gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, dairy-free, vegan, nut-free)

I get pretty bored of reading people's life stories with every recipe I'm trying to look up so I will leave you with only this: every member of my family loved this recipe, including my cat, who you see here trying to get some. (It has onions so he cannot have any though.) The sauce is delicious as written or fat-free. Everyone has different taste buds so you decide if ours match, but my family loved this, it is an absolute hit.

Echota's Baked Pakora Three Ways 
(Printable Recipe Here)

Ingredients

• 2 cups garbanzo flour OR 1 steamed sweet potato + 5 steamed cooked potatoes + 1/2 cup arrowroot flour or cassava flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh, crushed garlic (I used fresh because I always use fresh whenever possible)
• 1 head small cauliflower, chopped into small bite-size pieces
• 1/2 steamed sweet potato
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup peas (fresh/frozen)
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 potato, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500F. Line a large baking with parchment paper (recipe makes about 3 large sheets of 12 per sheet)
2. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Option 1: If using garbanzo flour, stir in enough water to create a batter, almost pancake-batter consistency, but a little thicker. It took me about 1 3/4 cups of water. Don't add extra water! Add the steamed mashed sweet potato and combine. Option 2: If using the steamed sweet potato/potato/arrowroot mixture, mash to combine and add seasonings and crushed garlic.
3. Prepare veggies and then dump them all into the batter, mixing well to coat. I did the grated veggies first, then the finely diced onion, and the cauliflower and peas last.
4. Using a tablespoon, take scoops of battered veggies and drop onto the well oiled baking sheet. I also more tightly formed them with my fingers and patted them down a bit to slightly flatten make make easier to flip when it's time.
5. Bake for 8-9 minutes, then flip and bake another 10 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Serve hot with Echota's Pakora Sauce (recipe below).

A third option if not eating baked veggies is to steam everything. Sweet potatoes/potatoes/onion first, mashed together with seasonings including crushed garlic. Then lightly steam the cauliflower and carrot and add, along with frozen peas. Top with the sauce and some chopped cilantro and mint and serve.

Echota's Pakora Sauce

• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 2 Tbs water
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinky tip of fresh ginger
• 1 tsp of maple syrup
• 2 medjool dates
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon of mint sauce or 2-3 fresh mint leaves (optional)
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, or omit if you want your sauce to be cool
• 3 Tbs coconut milk or coconut yogurt (optional, omit for FF)
• handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Blend all ingredients together. If you want to make this ahead to allow the flavors to combine longer, leave in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight, to cool. I tend to make everything at once and it's still delicious to me and my family. Enjoy! Let me know if you make it, tag me on Instagram or leave a comment here, whichever works!