Thursday, June 18, 2009

Baked Pakoda(Healthy Bengal Gram Flour Snack)

Know what you Eat - Besan (Bengal gram flour) is very high in protein and very low in glycemic index. This bean from which this flour is made looks just like yellow split peas, but is quite different because it doesn't readily boil down to mush. It's more closely related to garbanzo beans, or chickpeas. The differences are that Bengal gram is younger, smaller, split, sweeter, and has a much lower glycemic index, in fact much lower than the Garbanzo(not the dark colored chick pea but the light one). Onions are a very good source of chromium, a molecule that helps cells respond appropriately to insulin. Clinical studies of diabetics have shown that chromium can decrease fasting blood glucose levels,improve glucose tolerance, lower insulin levels, and decrease total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Chromium levels are depleted by the consumption of refined sugars and white flour products. High fructose corn syrup decreases this trace mineral too, so check for your labels when you buy food products in the store next time.

Bengal Gram Flour(Besan) is available in Asian Indian grocery store, or you can find it in the International Food Isle. Ever since i saw this recipe in Uma's blog i have tried it out several times. I atleast bake this once a week and it is awesome. Comes very handy for a after school snack for the kids as well as for moms to recharge.

Cooking Time - 20 mins
Preparation Time - 5 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients

Chickpea Flour (Besan) - 1 cup
Rice Flour - 2 tbsp
Red onion (medium sized) - 1
Cayenne pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste
¾ tsp Baking Powder
2 tbsp Butter, melted
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Salt as required
Little bit of water

Method

1) Preheat baking oven to 400 degrees.
2) Mix besan, chopped onions, cayenne pepper, rice flour, butter and salt. Add little bit of water and make a thick dough, you should be able to spoon it in a baking pan.
3) Grease a baking sheet and spoon the batter into small portions, leaving enough room for them to expand while baking.
4) Bake till the pakodas turn golden(not brown for around 15-20 minutes).
5) Serve it hot with ketchup of your choice and enjoy these protein rich guilt free snack.

Event Participation

This dish goes to Spill the beans- Sunday snack event hosted by Priya.

This dish goes to Low fat eggless baking event hosted by Madhu.

This dish goes to My legume love affair twelfth helping event hosted by Annarasa created by Susan.

23 comments:

Parita said...

I prefer baked items than fried ones, and these pakodas look crispy and crunchy, perfect for all events!

Pooja said...

hey this baked version sounds very healthy.. doesn't make one feel guilty... will definitely try next time !

Pavithra said...

Wow another healtheir version.. really pakoda is looking great ..superb idea of baking it

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Healthy pakodas - wow! I am sold!

Uma said...

Thank you so much for trying out baked onion pakoda! So glad that you liked it :) Yours came out so perfect and yummy. Guilt-free snack, isn't it?

Nithya Praveen said...

I prefer baked to fried...i try baking all that is possible...this one too.this is an apt one.Looks good!

kittymatti said...

Mouthwatering! baking is a superb idea!! great job!

chakhlere said...

hey!! This is perfect healthy snack!!
looks yummy!!

Kalai said...

Yeah, I remember seeing this on Uma's blog. Looks awesome!! :)

Preeti Singh said...

thats a perfect healthy version of pakoda....when ever we think of pakoda only frying comes in mind...but this one is healthy and tempting.

Prathibha said...

Wow they came out superb dear..My hubby always insits me to do this,but out of laziness i never tried..seeing ur version makes me to try this guilty free pakodas..

Priya said...

Wat a prefect idea of making pakodas in oven, brilliant!

Happy Cook said...

Beautiful and delcious, i would love to have this anytime of the day.

Kitchen Flavours said...

Oh that's an awesome and healthy pakoda......

Kalaivani said...

Love the baked pakodas.It looks crispy and soft.Will try this soon.

Lisa said...

I have been cooking with chickpea flour quite often lately and always on the lookout for new ideas. These sound great and I will certainly try this recipe soon!

rekhas kitchen said...

yes me to wanted to try this baked pakodas from umas but still didn't try nice try looks great and perfect for the egg less baked event and the other events too looks crispy and mouthwatering.

A 2 Z Vegetarian Cuisine said...

Thanks all for your comments. Uma thanks once again for your lovely recipe.

Madhuram said...

That's awesome. I recently baked something similar and wanted to try actual pakodas in the oven and I can't believe that I'm seeing it already. Let me run to Uma's blog too.

Thank you so much for sending it to the event.

Dhanya Ganesh said...

Never baked pakodas in the oven before,I usually deep fry them. Looks healthy and crispy and delicious. Will try it soon:).

Sukanya said...

This is one of the loveliest recipe I have ever come across, imagine eating a piece of pakoda which you cant resist yet you feel guilt-free...kudos to you..Baked pakoda is a must try!!!!

Ashwini said...

nice snacks..baked ones are always good and healthy..

Saradha said...

wow..this is really brilliant!!an absolute guilt free snack, Can't wait to try..

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