Cottage Cheese Pakoras — My Favorite Snack (and Sometimes an Entire Meal)

My absolute favorite snack are cottage cheese pakoras.  Whenever I go home, I always ask my mom to make them for me (and they are often ready when I come in the door!).  My mom recently emailed me the recipe she uses, which is from Saranya Auntie's (Saranya Mandava) Indian cookbook.   

I recently "became an adult" in the sense that I am now finally able to start making pakoras at home (I received a small professional deep-fryer for my birthday which is really helpful to making these delicious fried snacks).  And yes, I have that I have been going a little overboard and have started to make them ALL THE TIME. 

The recipe, which I recommend EVERYONE try, follows the picture:

I usually double the recipe (and have tripled it once) and it works out just fine.  Doubling the recipe maybe creates enough for 8 people for a snack portion, and 3 people eating them for a heavy snack/full meal.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz lowfat cottage cheese (I prefer smaller curd)
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2-3 green chillies, chopped (I use serranos or jalapenos)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (or more — to taste)
• 3/4 to 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• A healthy pinch or two of baking soda
• Oil for deep frying

Directions:

• Preheat oil to approx 355 degrees Fahrenheit (I use a professional mini-deep fryer, and I found this temperature to be the best)
• Mix salt, cumin, flour, cornstarch, and baking soda.
• Add cottage cheese to the dry mixture and mix well
• Add chopped ingredients and mix well.
• Loosely take walnut-size portions of the dough and place in deep fryer for approx 6-7 minutes.  The pakoras should be a light to medium golden brown color on the outside and cooked through.
• Lay cooked pakoras on paper napkins to drain the excess oil.
• You can serve within a few minutes or frying, or keep out for a day or two (they best served while hot out of the fryer).

Typing the recipe has made me hungry for them.  I think I will make them right now.  I wish I was kidding — they are really addictive!