Pakodas

Sangeeta Khanna’s book on pakodas is my personal all-season pass to enjoying fritters. A microbiologist and a nutritionist, Khanna dismisses a lot of the faff surrounding fried foods. Her point: Pakodas are not unhealthy when made the traditional, artisanal way. Use good quality oils, heat them just right (never too hot), skip the baking soda (yes, they guarantee crispiness but the pakodas absorb more oil), and focus on maximizing the bioavailability of ingredients. Past a comprehensive pakoda glossary (bhajka and bhajiya to pakode and pakodiyan) are over 200 recipes with vibrant photos. The ingredient lists are innovative and interesting: lentils, grains, meat, eggs, leaves, fruits, shoots, peels, and flowers. Many of these recipes and ingredients — cannabis, drumstick flowers, hibiscus, night-flowering jasmine and its leaves — have been wiped out from urban consciousness, making this an important work to read and recreate from.