Recipe of the month: Maggi Pakoda

You know what I do when I have my mom or MIL around? I usually bug them to pull out one of their  much-loved signature recipes from their personal recipe repertoire and make it just so I can document it on my blog 😁 A sure-fire way of getting a winning post with minimum effort from my end. I believe I am not a true daughter if I don't make full use of these two women in such an obviously shameless manner 😂

I have several of my mom's and MIL's recipes on the blog. Today I'll talk about my MILs recipes since she is the contributor to this particular blog post. 

My MIL is a very intuitive and resourceful cook - one that can judge what ingredients go together well and can give ordinary leftovers a makeover to transform them into something unexpectedly delicious. Check out the recipes for Bread Pakoda, Vegetable Cutlet, Vegetable Samosa, Vegetable Pulao, Rice Shavige, Chitranna Shavige that are all her contributions to my blog. From her to me and subsequently my children, these treasured recipes will be a part of our family legacy and that brings me a profound sense of satisfaction 😊

Okay, so let's get one thing straight. Although these pakodas are called "maggi pakodas", they taste nothing like the ubiquitous maggi noodles. And that is because we don't use the masala tastemaker while cooking the noodles. Instead, we cook the noodles plain and then mix them with lots of fresh ginger, bird's eye green chillies, fresh coriander leaves, red onions, gram flour and cooked rice. So the obvious question would then be - do we need to use only maggi noodles to make this snack? The answer is NO. You can use whatever wheat-based noodles that catches your fancy. Kapish?

Coming back to maggi, I know that there are people who absolutely love maggi (like me) and people who don't enjoy it (both my in-laws). One thing is for sure - whether you like maggi or not, you will certainly devour these  flavourful and crispy maggi pakodas.

Since I have my in-laws at home, things are pretty busy around here. You can tell by the quality of photos in this post (for the record, I almost never take food pics using my camera phone and in artificial light but I had no choice so kindly excuse). 

I'm signing off now folks. Go make these ASAP (I think I ate about 20. They are that good).

Maggi Pakoda

Preparation time: 10 min; Cook time: 20 - 30 min

Total time: ~ 40 min

Serves: 6

Recipe category: Indian/Snack

Recipe level: Easy

Recipe source: My MIL

Ingredients:

2 packets maggi noodles

2 big red onion, finely chopped

4-5 bird's eye green chilli, finely minced (adjust according to spice level)

2-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated 

3 tbsp cooked rice, Optional but recommended

1 bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped 

Salt to taste 

8-10 tbsp gram flour/besan

Method:

1. Cook the maggi noodles plain (without the tastemaker!) in ample water until cooked. Do not overcook. 

2. Drain the noodles and rinse thoroughly in cold water a few times. Keep aside.

3. In a large bowl add the chopped onions, grated ginger, cooked rice, chopped chilies and chopped coriander leaves.

4. Add in the noodles, salt and about 8 tbsp of the gram flour. No need to add water since the onions will release some moisture. Mix gently until the noodles are uniformly coated. 

5. Add more gram flour if required to make a thick mixture. 

6. Heat oil in a kadai or deep-bottom pot. When hot (but not smoking), drop spoonfuls of the mixture and fry until nicely brown. 

7. Serve with tomato ketchup/chilli sauce/mint chutney. 

Notes:

• It doesn't have to be maggi noodles, you can use any wheat-based noodles of your choice
• You can use leftover white rice in this recipe. Regular or basmati, anything goes
• Use fresh gram flour/besan for best results
• I recommend test frying 1 pakoda first and check for seasoning and consistency. Adjust as necessary and if satisfactory, continue making the rest
• Serve with hot masala chai for a great tea-time snack

Cheers,

Megha