Whole Wheat Bread Pakoda

One chilly evening, when the big winter blizzard was tormenting our town, the wanna-eat-something-hot mood captured all of us - just as you must've expected. Like a mechanized robot, I went and opened the fridge. Two weeks after we purchased grocery, a couple slices of whole wheat bread lay at the very rear end of the lowest rack...dry from all sobbing they did since they were left untouched for so long, I imagined! Poor souls. I decided to perk them up a tad bit. At first, I thought of making grilled sandwiches for us, but what's a snack without some spice to it? Especially on cold, snowy evenings! So, I trashed the idea of a sandwich into my mental recycle bin and dug into my pantry and I saw Rice flour, Maida, Besan.....Besan. Tada! Perfect for bread pakodas. Of course, these are packed with calories, so I consoled myself (Ahem!)'Okay, at least the bread is whole wheat'. The end product did leave me a bit surprised, for unlike pakodas made from regular bread these did not absorb as much oil! The next time you have left-over whole wheat bread and are feeling indulgent, do give this a shot.

Ingredients
4 Slices of bread - Make 4 triangles out of each slice by cutting them diagonally across
1.5 Cups Besan flour (Chickpea/Gram Flour)
1 tbsp Chillie powder
1 tsp Turmeric powder
A pinch of baking soda
Oil
Water
And, of course, some salt to taste!

Method
- Mix the besan, chillie powder, turmeric, baking soda and salt together to form a smooth, thick batter using water
- Heat oil in a wok/kadai
- Once the oil is hot, dip the bread triangles in the batter until fully coated
- Deep fry in the oil
- Serve hot with tomato ketchup

Makes 16 medium sized pakodas. A perfect, quick snack for tea time!

SERVES 4 (Unless you get tempted by more, which I think is highly possible!)