Hirekai Bajji / Ridge gourd Pakora

Ridge Gourd Pakora / Hirekai Bajji

Ridge gourd Pakora / Hirekai Bajji is a south Indian snack, using ridge gourd and gram flour. It is a deep fried crunchy snack and very easy to prepare. Served either for lunch as appetizer or as an evening snack.

Ingredients:

Ridge gourd / Hirekai - 12- 15 slices 

Gram flour / Besan - 1/2 Cup

Rice flour - 2 Tsp

Chilly Powder - 1/2 Tsp

Garam masala - 1/4 Tsp

Ajwain / Cumin seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Asafoetida - 1 Pinch

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Method :

1. Peel the skin of Ridge gourd and cut into round thin slices.                                                                                                      

2. In a bowl add gram flour, rice flour, chilly powder, garam masala, cumin seeds, asafoetidaand salt to taste.

3. Mix it with a water. Batter should not be too thick or too thin. It should be of pan cake consistency.

4. Dip each slice in the batter and make sure that the batter is coated evenly to the slice.

5. Fry each slices to golden brown.

6. Transfer fried bajjis to the kitchen towel. So that the extra oil will absorb to the paper.

 7. Serve hot Hirekai Bajjis / Ridge gourd Pakora with any sauce or chutney.