SEASON OF MELLOW FRUITFULNESS...AND CHAI-PAKORAS!

In his Ode To Autumn, John Keats waxed lyrical about the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”.

While “close bosom-friend of the maturing sun” means different things to different people – gathering together of family for Thanksgiving, celebrating another good harvest, pulling out the hoodies, etc., – for me, it also signals a deep desire for pakoras.

My friend says she can’t understand what it is with some people. “The minute it rains for a few days, or the days start getting cooler and shorter, you guys start talking about chai-pakoras!”

I have to confess to being one of “those” people who do just that. I start making onion pakoras or looking up recipes for mirchi pakoras.

Now what are pakoras doing in a garden column, you may well wonder. They are here, dear reader, because this year, I have indulged in the novelty of ajwain-leaf pakoras.

Where did I source ajwain leaf from?

My own garden!

How I came to owning pots of the coveted plant is what this gardening column is about. A couple of years ago my friend Ritu gave me a few plant cuttings. We were at their place for dinner and I noticed a bunch of cuttings in a glass of water on her kitchen counter.

Grinning at my excitement, she said, a friend of hers gave her some and she knew I would also like some, so these were for me.

A sumptuous home-cooked meal, containers of extra food to bring home, and ajwain cuttings – we are blessed with generous friends!

The cuttings were planted in potting soil the very next day and nurtured lovingly in their spot by a sunny window until it was warm enough to move them out for the summer. Where they took off, shooting up and sending out stems packed with the aromatic leaves every which way. Sending me on the hunt for recipes in which to use the bounty.

Ajwain leaf rasam, ajwain leaf kadhi, and the pakoras, I tried them all. The best part? This is truly a plant that keeps on giving. Because after cutting some stems and removing the leaves to make the dishes, I stuck the bare stems back in more potting soil in another pot. I was hoping that since the stems grew once, they might again. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, being the thinking and I was delighted to discover that they did indeed grow again.

So now I had two pots of ajwain plants.

You know how this progresses, right? There are only so many potted ajwain plants a woman can accommodate, and so I began hunting for friends who might be interested in giving them a home.

Of course, I had to evoke a desire for ajwain pakoras in a couple of them first with this recipe!

AJWAIN PAKORAS

Wash a large quantity of ajwain leaves thoroughly. Unlike methi leaves, ajwain leaves are not as strongly flavoured when cooked as they are fresh, and so this recipe can take a lot more leaves than you might think.

Add thinly sliced onions.

Add a little turmeric powder, and salt and chilli powder to taste.

Mix enough besan to bind – you don’t need water, just the juices from ajwain and onions will be enough.

Add a tablespoon or two of rice powder for crisp pakoras.

Mix well, and make lemon-sized balls. Flatten slightly and deep fry in hot oil.

Drain on paper towels and enjoy with ketchup or chutney.

So, ajwain plants, anyone?