Growing up, my sister and I had birthday parties where our cakes were sourced from a nearby bakery; no one in my family was adept at baking. But my mom took charge of the food. She would always have a different menu every year depending on how she felt — usually a version of pav bhaji or fried rice. But this particular bread pakora was always on the menu.  

The pakora has three layers of bread, one red, one white, and one green and it’s then dipped in a pakora batter and deep-fried. It was a slight elevation of the humble bread pakora. It was super practical because it had the chutney and ketchup inside so you barely needed a separate dip. And the kids used to lap these up — each would down three or four, and wash it down with some cold drink.

Picture credit: enthucutlet

Picture credit: enthucutlet

**Adult Supervision Required** 

Ingredients  

For the green layer:

2 cups coriander (cleaned and chopped)

1 tbsp thick curd

1 tbsp ginger

4 – 5 green chillies

Salt to taste

For the red layer:

½ cup of store-bought ketchup

For the white layer:

Butter or cheese slices

For the pakora batter:

1 cup besan (gram flour)

2 tbsp rice flour or corn flour

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

 ¼ tsp hing (asafoetida)

For eight pakoras:

12 white bread slices

Butter as needed

Oil for frying

Method  

• Ask a helpful adult to blend all of the ingredients for the green layer to make a fine paste. 
• Mix all the ingredients for the pakora batter with some water to make a thick batter. Set it aside. 
• Take three slices of bread and trim the corners if you like. 
• Apply the green chutney on one slice, ketchup on another slice, and for the white layer either leave it plain or apply butter. 

Picture credit: enthucutlet

• Assemble the pakora in the following order: green, white, red. 
• Press the slices gently and dip each piece into the batter, coating all sides. 
• Ask a helpful adult to fry the pakora in hot oil until crisp and golden brown. 
• With the help of an adult, cut diagonally to show off the three layers, and serve hot! 

Picture credit: enthucutlet

About enthucutlet

enthucutlet is a bimonthly food magazine that tells unusual stories about food in India (and sometimes beyond), and has been conceptualized by Hunger Inc. Hospitality which is responsible for The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro and Bombay Sweet Shop.

enthucutlet aspires to tell fun, unusual, heart-warming, and surprising stories in the vast realm of food in India. Organized into seasons like your favourite shows, each edition of enthucutlet delves into an idea that is thought provoking and is at the centre of all the features in it. These are contributed by a diverse set of writers ranging from economists, to neuroscientists, to food experts and everyone in between.