ABOVE: Amnah Kiani prepares a salad for a traditional Pakistani dinner at the Kiani’s home in Stamford last week.
12/28/2009
The latest edition of the Advocate’s Kitchen Culture series brings us to the Kinani’s a Pakistani family living in Stamford.
We found Hamid, the father and his son Fahad on the cricket pitch at Lione Park a while back and when asked, they graciously offered to share their food and cooking culture with us for this series.
Everything Mrs. Kiani prepared was delicious, the spicy chicken, tender goat and the pakora potatoes, breaded in chickpea flour and spices and fried.
The story runs later this week but here is a preview of the recipe:
Pakora potato pancakes:
WHAT YOU NEED:
Potatoes, sliced thinly about 1/8 of an inch on a mandolin or using a kinfe
1/2 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup water (more or less as needed to obtain the correct consistency)
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds
fresh cilantro and parsley if desired.
WHAT YOU DO:
Mix the flour, water and spices in a bowl and let stand for 15
minutes. The mixture should not be too thin so it will stick to the
pancakes.
Dip the potato slices in the mixture and fry them in a thin layer
of vegetable oil until both sides are brown and crispy.
–CP
