sounds awful, doesn't it? But the anchovies are not the horrible strips of dark saltiness found in bottles or tins, or even those delicious silvery white ones found marinating in oil and vinegar. These were frozen fillets sold in an Indian shop (owner is from Kerala) in East London.

I had to take out the backbones, but that was easier than taking out the guts from prawns! I covered the fillets with turmeric, salt and green cardamom powder. I then added some besan flour. Then I added some chopped onion and coriander. I made a batter with more Besan and hot water and blended it to a smooth consistency. I added sliced onion and the fish, and let the whole lot rest for half an hour. I then deep fried them, just as one would onion pakora.

The results were wonderful, not too fishy, and the onion helped add texture and a little piquancy. Had it with cucumber raita, and a little fresh mint and potato chips, made with boiled chips which were then rolled in potato flour before deep frying.

I love anchovies, never thought of using them in Pakoras but.. hey why not..!

Steve

I love anchovies!

Sounds like a spiced whitebait/ tempura kind of idea... fish pakoras, why not?!!

That sounds interesting, Lapis. I made some Thai fish cakes yesterday. I will experiment with fish pakoras at some stage.

Sid

yes, Kavey, I know tempura was introduced into Japan by the Portuguese, and I have a feeling pakoras may have been a similar scenario. There is anotyher Japanese dish which is really Wienerschnitzel with a sauce containing tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce! And of course their 'curry' is made from a block of spice/thickener like a bar of chocolate.

I love Japanese food (the original stuff) and I'd rate it third after Indian and Moroccan, but every cuisine seems to be 'contaminated' with less favourable offerings from intruders, iNDIAN ESPECIALLY.

Aah but that's also enriched many cuisines too!

I would agree that some cuisines have made happy marriages with Indian food, like Moghul, Zoroastrian/Parsi and Portuguese, but I'm not sure about the French or British.

As for Japanese, I think contamination is a fair description. People seem to crave for other peoples food (Chinese is the obvious one) but when foreign cuisine is imported to a country with a lesser culinary tradition, poor results seem to be the norm. See how the Brits or Americans have treated Indian and Italian food.

I've just had a 'flier' through the door from an 'Indian restaurant/take away', what a load of rubbish. When will 'Trading standards' start to clamp down on this 'authentic' food, with its 'medium sauces' made with 'specially selected fresh spicy herbs'!!!

...when people stop buying them... lol

Steve

Anchovy Pakoras, an interesting thought! I must remember to try it at some point. I like them in moderation in things like Pizza and pasta.