In one heckuva match, little New Zealand beat the pants off of South Africa. Ya heard me right. The Saffies, who were one of the favourites to win the WC, and are furthermore quite a deadly team, brought their "B" game (some say "F" game for "fail") to the cricket pitch and underestimated the Kiwis. In the end, the Kiwis scored 221/8, and bowled out the Saffies for 172 in 43.2 overs. Bowled out!!!
As you know, I've always made fun of the Kiwis. Well, no more. Pakistan are #1 in my heart and always will be, but New Zealand are my new second-favourites. A person who deserves a big old shout-out is the fabulous and fit-looking Jesse Ryder who hung in there, anchored the NZ innings and scored a nice 83 runs. Some of you may already know, some of you may not....Jesse Ryder is battling alcoholism, and it has been a real struggle for him.
And in other World Cup cricket news, Sri Lanka beat England to make it into the semi-finals. Good on the Sri Lankans! Seriously, the English were like a cat in this World Cup...they had so many close calls that they used up their 9 lives. Anyhoo, Sri Lanka royally thrashed the English with a 10 wicket yes a 10 wicket victory!
So, in the next round of World Cupness, Sri Lanka will play New Zealand, and Pakistan will play India. These are going to be extraordinary matches; especially the Pak/India match. Seriously, watch this epic battle with people who know CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) because I know that Kamran Akmal drops a catch, there will be millions of people besides me having a heart attack. Be safe and smart!
For today's cooking, it's going to be something a little simple, some nice pakoras, something similar to what we call fritters in the west. But pakoras taste better and will put a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Hello, world, see the food that I'm cookin, c'mon get happyyyyyyyyy!
Pakoras for Pakistan
I've never seen anyone make pakoras before, so I did my research, all the recipes have the same basic ingredients and they all have the same methodology. Some recipes looked like they had an imbalance of spices and would be bitter. So here's what I've cobbled together and hopefully these should be just fantastic!
Ingredients:
Batter:
1 1/2 cup chickpea flour (Besan)
1 teaspoon lal mirch (chili powder) or to taste
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander (cilantro), very finely chopped (use more if you like)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground anardana seeds (pomegranate seeds)
1 pinch of aamchoor (green mango powder) but only if you want a little extra tang
1 teaspoon yogurt
1/2 cup water
Put everything in a bowl, but gradually add the water, beating everything until it forms a thick, uniform batter. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes before adding your vegetables.
Vegetables:
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 potato, pre-cooked and cut into small pieces
1 clove of garlic, very finely diced
Spinach, finely chopped
cauliflower, cut into small pieces
(in fact, you can use any vegetable you like; but don't forget the onions because they add the right amount of sweetness and depth)
Put the vegetables into the batter and make sure they are all coated.
Heat enough oil in a pan to deep fry on medium heat. Do not overheat the oil or your pakoras will burn!
Drop the pakora batter by the tablespoonful into the oil and deep-fry until golden brown on both sides.
Drain on paper towel.
Serve with tamarind chutney : I don't have time to post that recipe now, but I'll post it tomorrow, I promise! In the meatime, you can use raita, basic chutney, or even ketchup.
Right on, enjoy the Pakoras, and keep up your strength for those semi-finals. And Jesse Ryder...stay golden, my man!!
Happy Cricket, Happy Pakora!
PS Visit my "other" lovely lads at SportPulse.net. Everything you want to know about World Cup Cricket and other sports!
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