Herbed Cornmeal Pakora
MAKKAI PAKORA

-Recipe from Yamuna mataji
      With a texture similar to hush puppy or cornmeal muffin batter, these shallow-fried pakoras are made from stone-ground corn, either white or yellow.

Preparation time (after assembling ingredients): 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

½ cup (75 g) stone-ground cornmeal
½ cup (65 g) unbleached white flour,
   Chapati or whole wheat pastry flour
1 ¼ teaspoons (6 ml) baking powder
½ teaspoon (2 ml) salt
½ teaspoon (2 ml) sugar
a generous ¼ teaspoon (1 ml) of crushed red chilies
2 teaspoons (10 ml) chopped fresh dill or
         1 ½ teaspoons (7 ml) dried dill
½ cup (120 ml) milk
2 table spoons (30 ml) melted ghee or vegetable oil
ghee or vegetable oil for shallow-frying

1.    Blend the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, crushed red chilies and dill in a mixing bowl. Whisk together the milk and ghee or oil in a small bowl, then pour into the cornmeal mixture and stir just until blended.
2.    Heat ½ inch (1.5 cm) of ghee or oil in a large frying pan until it is hot but not smoking. Scoop up roughly 1 table spoon (15 ml) amounts of the batter and carefully lower into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides (3-4 minutes per side), and serve immediately.