Happy Diwali..And a Ribbon Pakoda recipe

Happy Diwali /Deepavali to all my lovely readers!!Hope you are enjoying this festival of lights with your dear ones and with lots and lots of diwali sweets and snacksJ

For this Deepavali I made a simple savory snack which reminds me of a very very special person who is very close to my heart.

Back in my hometown in Kerala, it’s a very closely knit society and our neighbours are more like our family.So the Ammumma next door is more like my own grandmother.

I must admit that I spend a veee bit more time with her than my real grandparents. As both my parents were working I can say that I was practically living at their place.My clumsy description can't do justice to a person like our Ammumma…Infact all of us called her Ammumma including the kids gang ,my parents, other uncles and aunts in our colony.Such a pious, serene, loving person she was..The fondest memory I have of her is me lying down by her side in a  straw mat in afternoons and she reading out stories from “Urumbum Pravum”.

How I wish I got a chance to relive all those precious moments..I wish I could go back and hold her hands once more and tell her how much we all adored her…

Even though she is not with us anymore..her memories are soo vivid and I still can feel the her love and warmth..Love u always Ammuma..

This Ribbon Pakoda is one of her masterpiece..I wonder how big of a batch she must have made and how many hours she must have stood there making it.One thing was for sure ,most houses around would get a box of Pakoda when she ever she was making it! It was crispy, thin, light and with a hint of garlic flavor.

Let me confess my Pakodas are nowhere near that. It’s just another pakoda, but it reminds me of her and that makes all the difference

Ribbon Pakoda  Ingredients 1 Cup rice flour ½ Cup Gram flour 2 tbspn Oil ½ tspn Salt Oil for deep frying To grind: 3 Dried red chillies 2 Cloves Garlic ½ tspn Jeera/Cumin seeds Directions In a blender, grind the ingredients chillies, garlic, cumin seeds with 2 tbspn water. Mix together rice flour, gram flour and salt. Heat 2 tbspn oil and add to the dry ingredients and stir well using a fork. Sieve and add the ground mix to the flour mix and knead well. Add warm water and for a stiff but smooth dough. Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok Using a seva press, press the dough directly to hot oil and fry until golden brown.