Bhubaneswar: Have you ever tried fried flower fitters! We have come up with an authentic mouth-watering Odia dish called Kakharu Phula Bara or Pumpkin Flower Fries. It is a popular Odia dish which is prepared with Pumpkin flowers and flavoured with grounded spices. Interestingly, it is made with only the male flowers while the female flowers are always left on the creepers to develop into fruits. Read on for the recipe of ‘Kakharu Phula bara’ –
Ingredients –
- 20 nos Kakharu phula/Pumpkin flowers
- 2-3 nos dry red chillis
- 1/3 tsp cumin seeds
- 5-6 tsp rice
- 1 tbsp besan
- salt to taste
- 3-4 tsp of any vegetable oil
- 2 tsp freshly grated coconut ( optional )
Instruction
- Remove all the parts of the flowers except for the petals. Wash them gently and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Soak the rice in a cup of warm water for about 2-3 hours.
- Wash and grind the soaked rice along with the cumin, red chilli and coconut into a smooth paste of medium consistency. Add the besan to this paste and mix it well.
- Cooking: Heat a non-stick pan. Drizzle/spray a little oil.
- Hold two of the pumpkin flowers together ( or you can do this with individual flowers too ) and dip into the batter. Put it on the pan.
- Repeat with the remaining flowers.
- Cook on one side till crisp and reddish. Flip over, spray a little oil and cook the other side till reddish in colour.
- Serve hot with rice as a side dish.
