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Mushroom + broccoli pakoras with herbed cashew cream

October 27, 2015 5 Comments

Baked mushroom + broccoli pakoras  - to her core

I’ve been playing around with the idea of savoury bliss balls for a while, that is a savoury version of the sweet little snack that has become the perfect 3pm pick-me-up for those that want something a little sweet thats also a little healthy and packed with protein and fiber to negate the dreaded energy slump that usually follows a sugar snack. I was initially thinking something packed with nuts, seeds and perhaps legumes to make it substantial and satiating, as well as some fresh herbs and spices for flavour. To bind, I was thinking either mashed vegetables or beans. I also toyed with wholegrain options like brown rice balls or toasted buckwheat.

The more I played around with these ideas though and started to look into it a little more, I realised that most cuisines already have their own variety of savoury snacks that matched my ideas somewhat. Italian cuisine has arancini balls, little fried morsels of risotto stuffed with cheese; In Japan they snack on onigiri, flavoured sushi rice balls or triangles with a piece of nori wrapped halfway around. Middle eastern cuisine has chickpea-centric falafels, and Indian cuisine has pakoras, chopped vegetables mixed in a spiced besan (chickpea flour) batter, and then fried.

Baked mushroom + broccoli pakoras  - to her coreMost of these snacks, while definitely tasty, lacked the healthy idea that I was after – they were either predominately white grain-based and lacking vegetables; and/or they were deep fried. I have been a long-time lover of Indian food, and my favorite entree is pakoras, so the idea of making a pakora-style snack that was baked instead of fried definitely appealed. And I’m happy to say it only took two goes to come up with something that ticked all of the boxes I was aiming to fill – easy to make, healthy yet also tasty, packed with veggies and filling enough to curb those afternoon hunger pains but not ruin your appetite for dinner.

I think they taste best when the veggies are quite finely chopped, which is easier achieved via pulsing in a food processor fitted with an ‘S’ blade than chopping by hand which while possible is a little tedious. After the veggies have been chopped, you only need to combine them with the spices, besan (chickpea) flour and egg, and then bake, making the whole process relatively straight-forward and easy. If you choose to make the besan flour from scratch, this will obviously add extra time, but you could always go the quick option and buy the besan flour which these days is available from most major supermarkets and health food shops.

These pakoras can be eaten either as a snack or an entree, or something a little more hearty, shred some cos or iceberg lettuce, mix through some freshly chopped coriander, parsley and cherry tomatoes, top with a few or the pakoras and drizzle with some of the thinned-out sauce (simple mix it with a little water). 

Baked mushroom + broccoli pakoras  - to her core

Baked mushroom + broccoli pakoras  - to her core

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Mushroom + broccoli pakoras with herbed cashew cream
 
Ingredients
Pakoras
  • ½ small head broccoli
  • 100g mushrooms
  • 5 large kale leaves
  • 2 thinly sliced green onions
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp curry powder
  • Salt, to taste
  • 2 Tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1 cup besan (chickpea) flour besan (chickpea) flour
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
Herbed Cashew Cream
  • ⅓ cup cashews, soaked at least 2 hours
  • ⅓ cup water
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
  • ¼ cup loosely packed herbs (coriander, parsley, mint), ribboned
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 210 C | 410 F
  2. Finely chop the broccoli and mushrooms, and thinly ribbon the kale.
  3. Heat oil in a fry pan and fry with garlic, paprika, cumin, curry spice and generous sprinkle of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are just starting to cook through, around 6 - 7 minutes.
  4. Allow to cool.
  5. Stir through the chopped parsley, besan flour and egg.
  6. Bake 20 mins or until golden on the bottom and crispy on the top.
  7. To make the cashew cream, drain soaked cashews and add to a blender with the fresh water, salt and lime juice. Blend until smooth, then remove and stir through the chopped herbs.
3.4.3177

Baked mushroom + broccoli pakoras  - to her core

 

Filed Under: Breads and baking, Mains, Other, Recipe, Snacks Tagged With: besan, broccoli, chickpea, cumin, dairy free, gluten free, grain free, gram flour, Indian, mushroom, paprika, vegetarian

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Comments

  1. Josefine says

    October 27, 2015 at 9:24 pm

    I love the idea of savory bliss balls. What a great way to cut out some more sugar.
    I’ve never heard of pakoras – I’ll look for them next time I am at an Indian restaurant :)

    Reply
  2. Abida says

    October 28, 2015 at 5:37 am

    I love pakoras but have never thought to try it with mushroom and kale before, delicious!

    Reply
    • tohercore says

      November 4, 2015 at 8:36 pm

      Thanks Abida!

      Reply
  3. Katie @ Whole Nourishment says

    October 28, 2015 at 7:16 pm

    Ahhh pakoras, yum! But I like that you’re turning these into savory bliss balls too because it opens up the possibility of them being a snack rather than only thinking about them as a meal component. Love making any kind of falafel, pattie, etc to bulk out meals or to freeze to have on hand. But the Indian flavors in this look exceptionally good. They’d make a great appetizer too served with cashew cream and a green chutney. :)

    Reply
  4. Rachel says

    June 23, 2020 at 4:52 am

    These were fabulous, thank you, and won our household award for new dish of the week. OK, it’s only Monday, but we’re confident it’ll be winning dish of the week.

    The only change we made to your recipe was to use (slightly wilted) cabbage instead of kale. Otherwise, thank you also for spookily using up the precise contents of our fridge, leaving us with only half a red (bell) pepper and a lemon. Perfect!

    Reply

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