Pattanam Pakoda - Tea Kadai Medhu Pakoda used to be a popular street food snack of Chennai, which was called ‘Chennapattinam’ several decades ago. Pattanam Pakoda was stocked in tall glass jars and sold in Tea shops across Tamil Nadu.
Though it is served either as a snack or evening tiffin along with coconut chutney, we also love to have it as a side dish when eating rice with Mor Kulambu, Rasam, Sambar or Curd rice.
When I was a kid, I used to buy these pakodas while visiting ‘sandhai’ or temples as the shops along the road will stock them in glass jars. 1 pakoda used to cost 20 paise back then and now the denomination itself does not exist.
As the name ‘Medhu Pakoda’ suggests, the texture is soft and crumbly that even toddlers and old aged people can eat it easily.
These pakodas make for a great tea time snack both on regular or rainy days and does not drink lots of oil while deep frying.
Table of Contents:
About
The traditional pattanam pakoda is made with the mix of kadalai maavu (besan), pottukadalai maavu (powdered chutney dal) and arisi maavu (rice flour).
A base or ‘padhir’ is made by creaming together ghee and baking soda which makes the pakodas crisp at the same time soft and yet crumbly textured.
To this base, flours and vegetables are added, mixed and made into a dough and then deep fried to golden perfection.
For many old aged people, pattanam pakoda is a nostalgic walk down the memory lane of their youthful yesteryears.
Ingredients
Flours: Rice flour, Besan or chickpea flour, Pottukadalai flour which is made by powdering chutney dal in a mixer jar.
Vegetables: Onion, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves and curry leaves
Oil: I used refined groundnut oil for deep frying the pakodas.
Other ingredients: Ghee, salt, baking soda and red chilli powder.
Instructions
To make Pattanam Pakoda,
First, take ghee and baking soda in a mixing bowl.
Now, cream both together with your fingertips till it becomes frothy & creamy.
Add onion, ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves, curry leaves, cashew nuts to the bowl.
Mix everything together till well combined.
Now, add rice flour, besan, pottukadalai flour, salt, red chili powder to the bowl.
Add water little by little and mix everything.
Make a soft, firm and pliant dough.
Make small gooseberry sized balls from the dough.
Heat a pan with oil and deep fry the pakodas till golden brown and crisp.
Drain into a plate. Pattanam Pakoda is ready.
How to make in Air Fryer / Oven?
Instead of deep frying the pattanam pakoda, you can also bake this using an air fryer or regular oven.
Follow the instructions mentioned above till you make the balls from the dough.
Preheat the oven or air fryer to 180 C. Arrange the rolled balls side by side into the air fryer basket or in the baking tray, leaving enough space between them to ensure even cooking.
Spray oil all over the balls and bake them for 12 mins first. Open and shake the basket to flip them around.
If needed, spray another coat of oil and once again bake for 10 more mins or until they turn crisp.
Make sure not to stack them one on top of the other. Keep an eye towards the end as you need them crisp and not burned.
Recipe Notes
You need to add water little by little to make a firm dough.
Do not dump at one go as otherwise, the dough will become loose, and it will drink more oil while deep frying.
Adjust the salt, green chillies and red chilli powder to your preference.
Nutrition Profile
This pattanam pakoda recipe is
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Soy-Free
- Vegetarian
Shelf Life
This pattanam pakoda stay well for up to a week or 10 days when stored at temperature. Because of this, as I mentioned earlier, you can also eat this as a side dish to rice.
FAQ's
If you want to make it vegan, you can replace ghee with oil, but the pakodas will be hard rather than soft and crumbly when crushed.
To get the perfect textured pattanam pakoda, it is best to use ghee than oil.
You can add other grated vegetables like cabbage, lauki (bottle gourd), zucchini, carrot, spinach and mint along with onions.
You can substitute half the quantity of rice flour with other flours like whole wheat, ragi, jowar, maize or oats flours.
But keep in mind that the colour, taste and texture will completely change.
The ghee added will hold the pakodas together well. So do not change the ratio of the ghee and baking soda in the recipe.
If you follow the recipe to the T, the pakodas will hold their shape well, won’t have any surface cracks and will not disintegrate in oil.
Though there are no other spices added, if you want, you can add coarsely crushed fennel seeds or cumin seeds or ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder.
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Recipe
Pattanam Pakoda - Medhu Pakoda
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Processed rice flour
- ¼ cup Besan or chickpea flour
- 2 tablespoon Pottukadalai flour or powdered chutney dal
- ¼ cup Onion finely chopped
- 1 inch Ginger finely chopped
- 2 Green chillies finely chopped
- 1 sprig Curry leaves finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon Cashew nuts broken into tiny pieces
- ½ teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon Ghee
- ½ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ cup Water approx.,
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, first, add the ghee and baking soda. Using your fingertips, rub them together and mix till the mixture becomes creamy and frothy.
- Now add onions, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, coriander leaves, cashew pieces and once again mix everything together with your hands.
- Keep crushing everything together between your fingers and palm so that the ghee mixture coats everything.
- To this add, besan, rice flour, pottukadalai flour, salt, red chilli powder and again mix everything together till the flour absorbs the moisture and resembles bread crumbs.
- Now add water little by little while mixing the flour into a soft and pliant dough. The dough should be firm and not loose. So do not dump the entire water at one go. I used less than ⅓ cup water.
- Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Meanwhile, take a gooseberry sized portion from the dough and roll it into small balls.
- Similarly, roll the remaining dough into balls of the same shape and set them aside for deep frying.
- When the oil is hot enough, gently drop the balls into the oil in batches and fry them over medium flame till they become golden brown and crisp.
- Drain the balls of excess oil and transfer them into a bowl.
- Serve this pattanam pakoda or medhu pakoda with any chutney of your choice.
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