AFVOA Newsletter of Year 2021

Section 6 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 01 / 2021 Page 86 of 123 Medhu Pakoda is another variety of this family with an entire different method of preparation. The main ingredients here are Baking Powder, Cooking Soda, Vanaspathi and Besan ( Kadalamavu ) and you can well imagine what all this put together can do to your system. I have had a chance to eat Pakoda’s at various places which includes the base camp at Siachien Glacier and the IPKF detachment in Sri Lanka. For me till date, my most cherished, is a plate of hot pakoda with a glass of piping hot Chai which I had on a cold winter night (near Zero temperatures) at Mathura railway station in Dec 1976. Pakoda is a very popular appetizer and always featured in the list of snacks in the parties in Officers Mess and during Rum Punch with other ranks. Once we had a French delegation visiting the Air Force Academy and they were intrigued by the variety of Pakoda’s served to them. When I was quizzed ask about the ingredients and preparation of the recipe, all that I could tell them was that it was vegetables coated with batter of Gram Flour and deep fired. One of my choices as a good place in Chennai for eating pakoda’s a.k.a Bhajji is the Elloits Beach, the shores of which are dotted with a number of Bhajji stalls. I make it a point to go to Elloits Beach at least once a month and I am a regular at Varadhan’s stall which is efficiently run by him, his wife and children. He usually waits for the customers to come and place the order, after which the Bhajji’s are prepared on the spot and served hot all in a matter of ten minutes. Varadhan also serves chutney as a side dish with the pakoda’s which is really mouth-watering, the recipe of which he will never part with. Another place of my choice for Pakodas a k a Bhajji is the Madras Gymkhana Club which serves the best Onion Bhajji and Medhu Pakoda. Shree Mithai in Chetpet serves a very good Bread Paneer Pakoda (a slice of Paneer coated with mashed potato, covered with bread slices then coated with Beasn batter and deep fired). This with the green chutney as well as Sont (Sweet Chutney) that they serve is awesome. Gujarati Mandal in Broadway serves Mirchi ka Pakoda (Green Chilly Pakoda) and the preparation is as authentic as the ones that you get in Hyderabad or Jhodpur. Adyar Bhajji Kadai on S P Road (near Adyar Bakery) is a small out outlet but a big crowd puller. It’s a road side eatery and the shop opens only at evening time (closed on Sunday). It has been in existence at the same place for over 20 years and nothing much