I love all Indian food and thought I’d have a go at Pakora, however I don’t like to fry my food so I thought that I’d try baking it instead. I’d read a few different forums and knew that they would be tasty but with a different texture as they wouldn’t crisp up as they do when you fry them. I think that is a very small price to pay for tasty healthy food, so I went for it. You don’t have to use just mushrooms, you could chop up some aubergine, peppers, cauliflower etc, whatever you fancy.

I did have a worry yesterday that when people see the photos of some of my dishes that it might not look like we eat a lot, there are quite a few of my photos where I have gone for a minimalist look so you can see the food and then after I’ve taken the photo I whop on the rest of the food – for example, in this photo there’s only 3 mushrooms, which would be fine if this was a starter, however I added double that with some more red pepper on the side, but it would be hard to show the different components of the dish if I just piled it all on. It was the same for the parsnip and cannellini loaf, there was actually a side serving of balsamic sweet potato fries to go with that, but I didn’t add in the main photo as it was all about the loaf and spicy sauce.

We’re both very active and we eat good sized meals, I can only imagine the look of confusion on Martin’s face if I served him a tiny dinner! He’d be searching the kitchen for the rest of it!

Baked Mushroom Pakora served on Broccoli & Garlic Puree with a Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Stack (Vegan & Gluten Free)

MyInspiration Feel The Difference Range

Serves 2 – ready in under an hour

For the Pakora

12 decent sized button mushrooms, cleaned

1 cup gram flour

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 tsp Hot Curry Powder

1 tsp red chili flakes

1 tsp tumeric

Water as required (I used 1 cup)

For the Broccoli & Garlic Puree

1 small head of broccoli steamed for 8 minutes

2 cups spinach, wilted and drained

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp cumin

Black pepper to season

For the Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Stacks

2 Red Bell Peppers, cut into long slices

2 cups spinach wilted, drained and chopped

Black pepper to season

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and add your red peppers to a baking tray with a splash of water and pop in the oven for 20 minutes, prepare a second baking tray with parchment paper ready for the pakora.

2. Mix together your batter by combining the gram flour and all the spices, then add your water until you get a thick batter consistency, then roll your mushrooms in the batter making sure they are evenly coated and place on the baking tray and pop in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes (after 15 minutes I transferred my pakora onto a second baking sheet as the mushrooms gave out a bit of water and I wanted to avoid them becoming soggy, I popped them back in the oven for another 5 minutes)

3. In the meantime, steam your broccoli for 8 minutes to soften and wilt your spinach (I just pour a few cups of boiling water over the spinach in a colander and drain) then add the broccoli, garlic and spinach to a food processor or use a stick blender like me and pulse until the mixture is pureed, don’t worry it will look grainy, that’s the broccoli. Then add in the spices and stir together.

4. When you are ready to serve, fill a cup with the other batch of wilted spinach and the roasted red peppers, press it firmly down to compact it and place your plate over the cup, flip it over and gently remove the cup. You then want to make a little wall of broccoli puree to sit your pakora on and the job is done!

* I did think about adding some spices or balsamic to the stack, but those red peppers were deliciously sweet so it didn’t need anything else adding to it.