My little guilty pleasures!

The sight of Ma already there and awaiting me are definitely among the truly precious memories I hold back then. Her coming to see me after school with her ‘’Tante Raffia’’ would literally lift my face with sheer glow because I knew she brought my favourite ‘’little guilty pleasures’’ to indulge in. And everyday I would look forward to when school will be over so that I can narrate Ma all my naughty doings of the day. Somehow these little moments with Ma would make my day and believe me or not everyday I would stare constantly at the clock to strike 3pm because at that precise moment, my mind was always shifting to the thought of  what is Ma going to bring along for today?! I would run to her and first thing that would come out really from my mouth would be ‘’ Ma tone aster mo Gato Dipain?’’ which means  ‘’Ma did you bring them bread pakoras?’’.

Bread fritters/pakoras or Dipain Frire has to be the classic really whenever one would reminiscence about their childhood memories. I love to call them Gato Dipain instead because that’s how I grew up calling them really. Very popular street food , they can be bought almost anywhere around the island especially at market fairs or at small ‘’Tabagie’’ – local shops. As vivid as it can be , I still recall the scene where street merchants would be frying them in large quantities and how glorious they would look straining on the ‘’Charna’’ and in no minute thrown to display in the ‘’Vitrine’’. Oh if this doesn’t make you lose a heartbeat , then I don’t know what would make you do. I would stand there for as long as Ma wouldn’t notice me doing so and observe ardently the actions of the vendor . My truly little guilty pleasures moments ‘’Ek so satini pomme d’amour’’ – Tomato chutney being generously spread on the fritters. Aaah! Even now you know tea time will be good times when these extra specials would be made. At home whenever they were made, we all would fight for equal shares. Even though I was always the one to be having two more compared to everyone. I can’t help it really!

Bread pakoras , if I may allow myself , is a Mauritian version of the Indian stuffed  bread fritters really. The only difference really is that here we do not stuff the bread with potatoes but instead, simply deep fried them coated in a gram flour batter. The soft inside and the crispy edges, the absolute delicious taste of being deep fried and that marriage of flavours with the tomato chutney! These are the things that would make my mouth water every time I would see them being sold. Not so advisable to eat often because of the oily side factor, they have grown part of my favourite little guilty pleasures. I am sure you have your own little guilty pleasures . Don’t you? I would love to hear what are the things that excite your being really because to be honest it is the little things in life that make it to the bigger picture really. Also I am sure you have some pretty exciting memories of your childhood that definitely makes your heart beat a little faster. Whatever it is, I absolutely love it. If we haven’t yet bonded, please do not hesitate to follow me on Instagram and Facebook.

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The little things to life – Bread Pakoras / Mauritian Dipain Frire

Preparation : 15 mins

Cooking time : 20 mins

Serves 5

Ingredients :

• 2 stale bread preferably 2 days old ( Pain Maison )
• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of gram flour / besan powder
• Very finely chopped spring onions ( optional )
• 1 pinch food colorant ( yellow )
• Salt/Pepper accordingly
• Vegetable oil for frying

 

Method :

1. Slice your bread preferably 1 cm thick.
2. In a large bowl prepare your batter using all the dry ingredients mentioned above by adding 2 cups of water.
3. Heat some vegetable oil in a pan for deep frying.
4. Soak the bread slices in the batter for around 5 mins each.
5. Drop the coated bread slices into the pan and fry until golden brown.
6. Strain and serve hot with Satini Pomme D’amour – Tomato Chutney or some hot chilli sauce.

Note : You can also use sandwich toasts slices if you do not have ‘’Pain Maison’’.

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