Patnam Pakoda / Pattanam Pakoda / Medhu Pakoda

Patnam Pakoda also called as Medhu Pakoda is a famous street food in Tamil Nadu and is mostly available in many tea shops. These pakodas should be enjoyed with a cup of hot coffee or tea. Once you start enjoying these crunchy pakodas, you cannot hold your hands taking more and more. Generally pakodas are made with Besan Flour or Kadalaimaavu. But this pattnam pakoda is made with Pottukadalai Maavu ( Roasted Gram Dal / Chutney Dal ).  I made these pakodas during lockdown thinking that these would last for a week so that we could enjoy during our tea time with a nice snack for a week. On the Contrary, the bowl got emptied on the same day of preparation. These pakodas are deep fried in oil to get the delicious crunchy bite. If you have an Air fryer, you can try with few pakodas and compare both the versions. I have not ventured it out yet.

Ingredients

Chutney Dal / Roasted Gram Dal / Pottukadalai Flour  - 2 Cups

Rice Flour - 1 Cup

Green Chilli - 4 

Ginger - 1 small cube

Garlic - 2 pods

Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp

Salt - As Required

Red Onion - 1 Big or 2 Medium

Curry Leaves crushed - 1 stem

Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Hing / Asafoetida - 1 Dash

Oil - Enough for frying

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Preparation

• First prepare the Pottukadalai Maavu / Roasted Gram dal flour by grinding them in a mixie smoothly and keep it aside.
• Crush the green chilli, fennel seeds, curry leaves, garlic, ginger in a mortar or in a mixie gently. Keep it ready. Chop the onions and keep it aside.

• In a mixing bowl, add the ghee and a pinch of baking soda. Gently mix them using the tip of the fingers in order to mix the soda with the ghee completely. This process keeps the inner part of the pakoda softer and enhances the taste as well.
• To the bowl, add the Roasted gram flour / Pottukadalai Maavu,rice flour,chopped onions,crushed green chili mix, red chilli powder, hing and mix them thoroughly. Add water little by little to the bowl and make a dough like a roti dough. 
• Once the dough is ready, make lemon sized balls of the dough and keep them ready for frying.
• While preparing the pakoda dough, you can start heating the oil for frying process.
• On low-medium heat, fry all the pakoda balls in the oil and drain them out once they turn golden brown and crispy.
• Enjoy the delicious Pakoda with hot tea / coffee.

Tips / Suggestions

It tastes best when its slowly fried on low-medium flame. Cooking on high flame might yield half cooked inner part and dark coloured pakodas.