Batata Vada – Indian Potato fritters

Batata Vada are an Indian street food. I was tempted to try these after a friend posted a yummy looking picture on Facebook. This is my take on the spicy snack – n.b. spices used may not be fully traditional as I have adapted with what I had available.

Ingredients:
*Mashed potato – leftover is great. To make about 20 Batata Vada I used about 700g.
*Garlic cloves – 10
*Ginger – 3 inches
*Chillies – green – 3 (or to taste)
*Celery salt – 1 tsp
*Cumin seeds – 1tsp
*Tumeric powder – 1 tsp
*Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
*Fenugreek leaves (dried) – 2 tsp
*Corriandor (fresh or frozen) – 3 tbs (chopped)
*Black pepper (ground) – 1 tsp
*Oil of choice – 1 tbs
For the batter:
*Gram (chickpea) flour – 6 heaped tbs
*Water to mix – approx 250ml cold
*1 tsp chilli powder
*1 tsp tumeric powder
*1 tsp salt
*Oil of choice for frying

Method:
1. Fry dry spices in oil until seeds pop.
2. Blend garlic, ginger and chilli with 2 tbs of water to produce a smooth paste (alternatively you can finely chop these). Add the paste to the spices and fry for 1-2 mins further.
3. Add coriandor leaves (chopped) and mix spice paste into the mashed potato.
4. Roll into small balls.
5. Add batter spices to the gram flour and then add water to produce a batter that is the thickness of double cream. Add water slowly, but this should be around 250ml of cold water. Add a little by little to get the right consistency.
6. Dip the potato balls into the batter then deep fry at 190C for 2-3 mins until golden.