Tamaatar Ka Pakoda ( Stuffed Tomato Fritter)

A colorful and tasty tea time snack…..tomatoes are stuffed with potato mix and then fried like pakodas (fritters).

Ingredients:

• 6 small hard red tomatoes

• Oil for frying

For Filling:

• 1 large potato
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp cilantro leaves finely chopped
• 1 green chili finely chopped
• 1 tsp chat masala
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• Salt to taste

For Batter:

• 1 cup besan (gram flour)
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• Pinch of asafetida
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Boil and skin potato. Mash and mix in it all other ingredients required for filling.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add potato mix in it and fry for 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat and keep aside.
• Put the gram flour in a large mixing bowl with the ingredients required for the batter. Add warm water, a little at a time; use a whisk to blend all together. The resulting batter should be like thick pancake batter. Keep aside.
• Wash the tomatoes and set dry. Cut the top of tomato like a cap. Gently scoop out the centers. Now fill the hollow tomato with the potato mix.

• Heat the oil for deep frying on a medium flame.
• When the oil is ready for frying, dip one stuffed tomato in the gram flour batter to coat well on all sides. Put it into the oil and fry till golden all over turning occasionally.
• Remove and drain on paper towels. Fry remaining tomatoes in the same way.
• Serve hot with green chutney.

Do You Know?

The USDA claims that cooking animals with a body cavity filled with stuffing can present potential food safety issues. These can occur because when the meat reaches a safe temperature, the stuffing inside can still harbor bacteria (and if the meat is cooked until the stuffing reaches a safe temperature, the meat may be overcooked).

For turkeys, for instance, the USDA recommends cooking stuffing/dressing separately from the bird and not buying pre-stuffed birds (stuffing is never recommended for turkeys to be grilled, smoked, fried, or microwaved)